JACKSONVILLE -- Peter Behringer peers into the 6,000-square-foot, glassed-in kitchen of his company's San Marco shop.

White chocolate-covered pretzel twists have just finished coming off the production line, and behind him an afternoon crowd is buzzing around the small retail space that rounds out the 10,000-square-foot building.

Candy production at Peterbrooke Chocolatier Inc. has slowed after a busy Mother's Day, marking a natural progression into the quieter summer season. But that slowdown isn't necessarily bad for the 21-year-old family business since it is focused on two time-consuming projects.

The first is Peterbrooke's much publicized pursuit of the city's Haydon Burns Public Library, a Downtown property that went up for sale in March. Though Behringer doesn't want to entertain the notion that one of the three other bidders might get to buy the 1960s public building, he admits that he has scouted other locations for a new production site because the company has to expand.

The expansion will serve the dual purpose of better supplying Peterbrooke's nine stores from Fernandina Beach south to Winter Park and providing a central training facility as the company in June begins selling franchise rights for up to 50 stores -- its second project.

"It's not even on the market yet and already we're getting calls," said John Hagood, CEO of Orlando-based Franchise Consultants Inc. "The franchising end of it has definitely fueled [the expansion]."

Hagood plans to market the franchise but has set up signs in Peterbrooke stores for now.

Based on the volume of calls he has received -- as many as four a day -- and an evaluation of Peterbrooke's business model, Hagood said 20 to 25 locations should be operating within the next 12 months with the remaining half of the first-year stores in various stages of training and setting up.

Peterbrooke, whose sales totaled $3.5 million last year, will charge a $75,000 per franchise startup fee. Store owners will also have to pay equipment and build-out costs and franchise royalties, Hagood said.

He began working with the company on a franchise plan about four months ago, after three years of pitching the idea.

Owner Phyllis Lockwood Geiger, who gained her chocolate expertise in European kitchens, is confident that the brand she has created can survive franchising.

"We've been successful not because we put a box of chocolates on the shelf but because of the experience," said Geiger, who named the business for her children, Peter and Brooke. "We know our customers' names, their chocolate preferences. We do things like make our own marshmallows. These things make a world of difference from what you can buy in a store."

Products Geiger calls her own include popular chocolate-covered popcorn, a creation she discovered by accident, and chocolate pizzas and pretzel rods.

She credits a "passion for chocolate and our products" for building a name brand she has always believed could succeed nationally.

But Peterbrooke isn't just expanding geographically. It's entering an even more competitive arena for specialty retailers, the thriving franchise industry.

There are many opportunities for the entrepreneur to tap into well-known or up and coming brand names, such as Dunkin' Donuts and candy maker Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

University of Florida professor Bart Weitz said Peterbrooke should be able to launch a profitable franchise venture, but there are some potential pitfalls. Weitz is executive director of the university's David F. Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research.

Among the top challenges is the concept of "free-riding," which means franchise owners damaging the brand by introducing different products, letting stores become dirty or failing to offer an acceptable level of customer service.

"You have to actually maintain quality control across all franchisees so you don't have people free-riding," Weitz said. "You can't just sell a franchise and say, 'I'm going to forget about that' and count the checks coming in."

Franchisers must hire a consultant, choose franchise owners carefully, offer concrete training and pay attention to evolving consumer tastes to succeed, Weitz said.

Though franchising creates operational "layers" Peterbrooke has not dealt with before, Weitz said the company can succeed.

"Peterbrooke can be very successful," he said. "It will be a lot different running a franchise operation with 50 stores from running nine stores of your own.

"But it is easier to develop a brand name for high-quality chocolates than it is for dry cleaning."

Source: Jacksonville Business Journal