Great Harvest Franchising Inc.

Founded: 1976 Franchising since: 1978
Pete Wakeman had been baking bread most of his life. As a child, he would help his aunt. In high school, he baked for his friends. During summer vacations, he sold bread from the roadside. In 1976, when Wakeman heard about a bakery in Great Falls, Montana, that was going under, he bought it. With the help of his wife, Laura, Wakeman established the Great Harvest Bread Co. and set about baking loaves for people in the Great Falls community.

Soon, people from neighboring communities starting asking about setting up their own Great Harvest locations. The first franchise opened in Kalispell, Montana. In 1983, the Wakemans converted their Great Falls bakery into a franchise and moved company headquarters to Dillon, Montana, so they could concentrate on the franchising end of their business.

Great Harvest bakeries serve a variety of breads each day including honey whole wheat, white cheddar garlic, sunflower and cranberry orange.

28 S. Montana St. Dillon, Montana 59725

Phone: (800)442-0424/ (406)683-6842

Franchisor is a privately-held company with 28 employee(s); 5 employee(s) in franchise department.

Franchise Growth

Year	U.S. Franchises	Canadian Franchises	Foreign Franchises	Company Owned
2009	205	0	0	0
2008	207	0	0	0
2007	207	0	0	0
2006	197	0	0	1
2005	188	0	0	6

Where Seeking Franchisees
In the U.S. Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North carolina, North dakota, New hampshire, New jersey, New mexico, Nevada, New york, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode island, South carolina, South dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West virginia, Wyoming
Outside the U.S.: Canada

Exclusive territories available.
Territory size: Lesser of 300,000 population or 10 miles

Special Programs
Great Harvest holds bread-tasting contests at its annual convention to determine who makes the best bread in the system. There are also contests for new bread recipes.

Total investment: $107.6K-476.4K Franchise fee: $35K

Ongoing royalty fee: 4-7% Term of agreement: 10 years, renewable

Type of Financing Available

	In-House	Third Party
Franchise Fee	No	Yes
Startup Costs	No	Yes
Equipment	No	Yes
Inventory	No	No
Accounts Receivable	No	No
Payroll	No	No

Qualifications
Net worth requirement: $350K
Cash liquidity requirement: $70K-75K
Business Experience:

• General business experience

Operations

• 20% of all franchisees own more than one unit
• Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 5 - 7
• Absentee ownership of franchise is NOT allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

Training

• Available at headquarters: 1 week
• At franchisee's location: 1 week
• At existing locations : 2 weeks

Ongoing Support

• Newsletter
• Meetings
• Toll-free phone line
• Grand opening
• Internet
• Security/safety procedures
• Field operations/evaluations
• Purchasing cooperatives

Marketing Support

• Co-op advertising
• Ad slicks
• Regional advertising

Other marketing support

• PR campaign during opening, monthly marketing promotions, annual marketing plan

Franchise 500® rank:
#290 (2009); #246 (2008); #260 (2007); #262 (2006); #222 (2005);

America's Top Global Franchises:
#194 (2008); #192 (2007); #169 (2005);