Published: May 18, 2008 06:21 pm            

Huddle House construction awaits leader for planned Jacksonville branch

By Raymond Billy

rbilly@jacksonvilleprogress.com

Plans are still on target to open a Huddle House in Jacksonville, but securing management to lead the establishment is taking longer than expected, Bill Hodges, the company’s franchise development director, said.

Officials from Huddle House, Inc., announced in February their intentions to open a branch of the diner — which specializes in home-style foods such as omelets and chicken-fried steak — locally, but want to wait until finalizing a contract with a franchisee before beginning construction on the eatery here.

Hodges said the company has identified a lead candidate to fill the position, but that person is still weighing whether to try a hand in the restaurant industry during a time of slowing profit growth nationwide. The National Restaurant Association predicted in December that Americans would spend 4.4 percent more in 2008 eating out than they did last year. So far, though, sales have been much less robust, with April bringing in the highest volume of profit growth at only 0.9 percent according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Monday.

Huddle House is still hoping that its lead candidate will come to agree to terms to manage the new Jacksonville restaurant, Hodges said.

“We’ve decided we’ll wait until the first week of June for our preferred franchisee to decide whether to join this venture before we look in another direction,” Hodges said.

The company — boasting franchises in 17 states nationwide and annual sales of $210 million — has tentatively chosen a pair of sites that might make ideal locations for the diner, but wants to wait to get input from the local franchisee before finalizing a place to break ground.

But, the unexpected delay in securing a franchisee has not wavered the company’s intention to move into the Jacksonville market, Hodges said.

“The only thing that might alter our plans would be if another restaurant swooped in and got a permit to build on the land we are hoping to build on,” Hodges said.

He said he’d hoped Jacksonville would be on the fast track of Huddle House’s expansion into Texas.

“We’ve started construction at other locations in Texas since the Jacksonville announcement. We wanted to get started, in earnest, on our move to Jacksonville much sooner, but you really can’t rush these things,” Hodges said. “We want to make sure we have the best person possible to operate that branch.”

A chance still exists that Huddle House will open in Jacksonville this year, Hodges said. He told the Daily Progress in February the restaurant would add 25 jobs to the local economy, include as many as four managers.

        

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