If founders, chefs and other creatives are the beating heart of the restaurant industry, then franchisees are the veins delivering their ideas to all corners of the globe. Franchising is critical to the success of the industry, allowing brands to scale their big ideas quickly, using other people’s capital. And whether it’s a mom-and-pop restaurant owner with one or two franchised restaurants or a seasoned veteran whose influence in the industry is well-known, franchisees — with all their individual attributes, styles, and personalities — make a huge impact on the success of a business.
In this week’s installment of Franchisee Spotlight, we spoke with Taylor Thomas, who started his career in franchising thanks to his father, who began in the business more than three decades ago. After many years solely as a franchisee for the San Antonio, Texas-based Whataburger, the Thomas family is getting into a new brand for the first time with Layne’s Chicken Fingers, based in Frisco, Teas.
We spoke with Thomas about his family history, why Texas brands are important to him, and what it means to be a great franchisee in the community.
Store count: 23 Whataburger locations in Texas with one Layne’s Chicken Fingers coming in January 2025
Family history with Whataburger
It started with my father's family business.… My father worked for Whataburger since he was 16 years old. Afterward, he actually got his engineering degree and went to do his own thing. The franchisee, at the time stepped in and said, “Why don't you stay here with me?” And they worked out a deal. Then, a few years later, he bought his first franchise.
He got his first franchise with Whataburger in 1989, and then many years down the road, I went to college to get my business degree. Afterward, I started looking into the franchise worldand found out real fast that that we had other plans for me. So, I took over the Whataburger franchises and started running those back in 2015. Then it just spiraled from there. I got into it and just loved every aspect of it.
The next generation
I guess you could say he is retired. But I do still get the honor to see him in the office a few times a year. Now, he comes in and he gets to enjoy everything and just visit. We have a wonderful relationship, and it’s what I strived for when I jumped on board with Whataburger.
A new direction
With Whataburger, we grew our territory as much as we could and eventually, we noticed that we were getting pretty tight on opportunities within our footprint. We've always been a little hesitant to stretch too far out. We just want to keep a better handle on things and have a close relationship with all our stores and our teams.… So, we started looking for other brands. We knew what we didn't want, and we knew we wanted a brand that complemented Whataburger with their same views on how to run things. Whataburger is still a family business, and they personally listen to and work with franchisees.
Partnering with Layne’s
I was having lunch with our real estate guy, and I’m telling him we’re trying to find the right fit for us, and nothing would stick. And then he said, “What about Layne’s?” I didn't even know what Layne’s was, to be honest, but he had a contact and we got in touch with them, and it was obvious right from the beginning how family-oriented it all was, and how excited everybody was in the Layne’s community, and how they were open to ideas and wanted to push the brand forward. Normally, franchises don't really want? your input. But we’re not here to work for somebody: we want to work with somebody. And Layne’s had all of that…. It just felt like a real tight family atmosphere.
Another Texan brand
Besides the family atmosphere, we wanted a brand that that knew who they were. A lot of brands go for the fads, and they bounce around instead of focusing on one key element that they can be really good at. In Layne’s world, that’s chicken tenders. Their goal is to be the No. 1 chicken finger brand on the market. The third thing is that it was another Texas brand. Us Texas people love Texas brands, and it's just an added bonus. They just have a different feel and different pride.
Franchisee success
It just comes down to relationships and how you communicate and operate with your teams. One big thing we push on our GMs, and we try and strive for, is community involvement, and how we can not only make our customers’ experiences better in our stores, but also how can we impact their lives away from our stores. We try to be involved in all of the high schools, we work with churches, we work with the city councils, etc. For instance, my parents grew up in Kilgore, Texas, and they had a project for the Little League come along, and they couldn't, couldn't figure out how to help move that forward. They to fund a new complex, and we advertised it and funded it for years…. Another thing, and this might be common sense, but having hot food and clean stores. That goes a long way.
Future goals
We have zero desire to get away from being a Whataburger family. We did sign a 25-store agreement with Layne’s, and we hope there’s more opportunities down the road with Whataburger too. We want to continue to grow as a company. We understand it's going to be some challenges involved with that, but we feel confident we can work through it with both brands.
