Pinky Cole announces she will start franchising Slutty Vegan
Pinky Cole has announced her famous vegan burger chain Slutty Vegan will now be a franchisor.
It is one of the first major moves for Slutty Vegan after a turbulent year during which Cole lost control of the company and subsequently bought it back.
She told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview Thursday franchising “gives me the opportunity to be able to grow the brand without having to run corporate stores, and getting experienced operators to do what they do best.”
Cole founded Slutty Vegan in 2018 as a food truck, but quickly grew it to a national phenomenon. At its height Slutty Vegan had 14 locations across the country and hourslong lines out the door.
Then the company hit troubled waters.
Before Slutty Vegan was restructured this year, it was $20 million in debt, according to Cole.
“We were burning through a lot of money,” she said.
In various interviews, Cole said that she had stepped away from the helm of the company and in that time the corporate overhead ballooned.
In February, Slutty Vegan went through a state-level alternative to bankruptcy called an Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors. Slutty Vegan’s board was formally dissolved and control of the company and its assets went to an estate administrator.
Cole bought back the company in March and has been building it back as “Slutty Vegan 2.0.”
“The biggest lesson that I learned is that you’re only as good as the talent that you bring aboard. And I also learned that you can never take your hands off the wheel,” Cole said.
“You just got to keep going. No matter what, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when it’s ugly, even when you lose it all, you got to keep going.”
After a wave of store closures, the restaurant chain now has seven locations, plus Cole’s new vegan hoagies concept, simply called Voagies, in the Westview neighborhood.
For a long time, franchising was something Cole said she had vowed never to do. But she changed her mind after watching the success her husband Derrick Hayes, founder of Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks, had with franchising.
“I actually realized that, one, this is a way to build wealth. And two, as long as you have the right systems, it’s a really good business model,” Cole said.
Franchising is also an opportunity to expand vegan food across the country and give other entrepreneurs a chance to build something off a proven popular business model, according to Cole.
She is also offering the corporate locations, including the one on Edgewood Avenue, for potential franchisees, saying the stores are profitable.
Last month, Cole and her current and past entities were named as defendants in a lawsuit over alleged unpaid rent for the Edgewood location. Cole’s businesses also have faced lawsuits in Maryland and New York regarding alleged unpaid rent and credit card charges predating the business overhaul. Cole’s representative declined to answer questions on the statuses of the lawsuits.
Cole said she sees franchising as the future of Slutty Vegan.
In the first 24 hours after announcing she was starting to franchise, Cole said she received more than 100 inquiries. But potential franchisees will be strictly vetted, she said, with requirements built around net worth and past experience running restaurants.
“We have to be super strict in qualifications on who we decide to engage with, because they determine the future of the brand,” Cole said. “If they are successful, the brand will be successful. If they are not successful, I’ll be right back at square one telling the story about how my business didn’t make it, and I’m not willing to go through that again.”
Cole said she prefers franchisees who will open a brick-and-mortar storefront, versus something like a stall in a food hall, but that she would be evaluating on a case-by-case basis.
The buy-in fee will be $40,000, and estimated startup costs range from nearly $556,000 to more than $1.2 million, depending on if a unit is already built-out for a restaurant. Franchisees will pay 6% of net sales in royalties to Slutty Vegan corporate plus 2% of sales as a marketing fee, according to Cole.
Long-term, Cole’s plan is to own the full franchise supply chain. She recently brought on Shawntel Daniels, an experienced corporate franchising executive who has worked for 7-11, Planet Fitness and BP, as Slutty Vegan’s franchise president.
But Cole said she is not going anywhere.
“I saw what happened before,” she said. “I’m not willing to let it happen again.”
About the Author
Mirtha Donastorg is a reporter on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s business team focusing on Black wealth, entrepreneurship, and minority-owned businesses as well as innovation at Atlanta’s HBCUs.
