Does a Bojangles franchisee receive exclusive territorial rights under the Franchise Agreement?
Bojangles Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
RRITORY**
Development Agreement
If we sign a Development Agreement with you, we will grant you a territory in which you are allowed to develop Restaurants. The territory is referred to as an Assigned Area in the Development Agreement. The Assigned Area will be described by street boundaries or political subdivisions or may designate certain locations, intersections or market areas. The Assigned Area will be negotiated individually with you. The Assigned Area and the individual franchise locations will be based upon relevant factors including population, traffic patterns, trade areas and proximity to business generators such as schools and hospitals, and your ability to develop the Assigned Area in a timely manner. You must always obtain our approval for each specific Restaurant location within the Assigned Area. If we approve the location, a franchise is granted for that specific location only and we will sign a Franchise Agreement with you for that location. You do not receive any territorial rights under the Franchise Agreement.
Since we retain certain rights mentioned below within your Assigned Area, you will not receive an exclusive territory; you may face competition from other franchisees, from outlets that we own, or from other channels of distribution or competitive brands that we control.
Your right to develop Restaurants in the Assigned Area will be for a limited time and be subject to your compliance with the terms of your Development Agreement and our retained rights. After the expiration or early termination of the Development Agreement you will no longer have rights to develop in the Assigned Area. You do not have the right to open and operate any Restaurants in excess of the number of Restaurants specified in the Development Agreement. The Development Agreement does not grant options, rights of first refusal or similar rights to acquire additional franchises beyond those listed in the development schedule.
During the term of the Development Agreement, if you are in full compliance with all agreements with us, we will not establish, nor license anyone other than you to establish, any new Bojangles Restaurant under the System in your Assigned Area. However, we and our affiliates retain the right, among others, on any terms and conditions we deem advisable, and without granting you any rights therein: (1) to establish and operate and license others to establish and operate Bojangles Restaurants at any location outside your Assigned Area; (2) to establish and operate or license others to establish and operate Bojangles Restaurants at any location within your Assigned Area after the expiration or termination of your development schedule or your Development Agreement; (3) operate, and license others to operate, Bojangles Restaurants utilizing the System in your Assigned Area that are located: (i) in airports, train stations, bus stations, transportation centers, travel plazas, stadiums, arenas, convention centers, military facilities, gas stations, convenience stores, schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, theme parks, office buildings, food courts, venues in which foodservice is or may be provided by a master concessionaire or contract foodservice provider, Indian reservations, casinos or any similar captive market location; or (ii) within one (1) mile along each side of interstate highways located within your Assigned Area. We also retain the right to offer goods and services associated with the Proprietary Marks throughout the System including any Assigned Area, including without limitation, the right to sell the same or similar products that are authorized for sale at Bojangles Restaurants under the Proprietary Marks or under other trademarks or trade dress and through any other channel of distribution, whether such channel of distribution is now in existence or is hereafter developed and whether at retail or wholesale including, without limitation, sales through catalogs, e-commerce, mail order, carts or kiosks, mass merchandise, supermarkets, grocery stores, restaurants, institutional customers, ghost kitchens, club stores and any other outlet or method of distribution, pursuant to any terms and conditions as we may deem appropriate.
We and other Bojangles franchisees are not restricted from soliciting sales inside your Assigned Area. The development rights granted to you in an Assigned Area are not dependent upon your achievement of a certain sales volume or any other contingency. However, in the event of certain defaults, including your failure to meet the development schedule, we may, in addition to any other remedies we may have, terminate, or reduce the area of, the territorial rights granted to you.
Franchise Agreement
If you sign a Franchise Agreement, you will receive the right to establish one Restaurant in a specific location and you will not receive any protected territory around that location. You must receive our prior written permission before relocating any Restaurant. Our approval will be based upon a variety of factors including the viability of the then-current location, whether the proposed location is outside of your Assigned Area (if applicable), and the characteristics and demographics relating to the proposed location (including number of households, household income, number of licensed drivers and number of businesses) and the proximity of other Bojangles Restaurants to the proposed location.
Source: Item 12 — TERRITORY (FDD pages 49–50)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Bojangles's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the territorial rights granted to a franchisee depend on whether they sign a Development Agreement or a Franchise Agreement. If a franchisee signs a Development Agreement, Bojangles grants them an Assigned Area in which they are allowed to develop Restaurants. During the term of the Development Agreement, if the franchisee is in full compliance with all agreements, Bojangles will not establish, nor license anyone other than them to establish, any new Bojangles Restaurant under the System in their Assigned Area. However, this is subject to several exceptions, and Bojangles retains certain rights within the Assigned Area. After the expiration or early termination of the Development Agreement, the franchisee will no longer have rights to develop in the Assigned Area.
If a franchisee signs a Franchise Agreement, they receive the right to establish one Restaurant in a specific location and will not receive any protected territory around that location. Bojangles and other Bojangles franchisees are not restricted from soliciting sales inside the franchisee's Assigned Area. The development rights granted in an Assigned Area are not dependent upon achievement of a certain sales volume or any other contingency. However, in the event of certain defaults, including failure to meet the development schedule, Bojangles may terminate, or reduce the area of, the territorial rights granted.
Bojangles retains the right to establish and operate Bojangles Restaurants at any location outside the franchisee's Assigned Area and at any location within the Assigned Area after the expiration or termination of the development schedule or Development Agreement. Bojangles also retains the right to offer goods and services associated with the Proprietary Marks throughout the System including any Assigned Area, including without limitation, the right to sell the same or similar products that are authorized for sale at Bojangles Restaurants under the Proprietary Marks or under other trademarks or trade dress and through any other channel of distribution. These channels include sales through catalogs, e-commerce, mail order, carts or kiosks, mass merchandise, supermarkets, grocery stores, restaurants, institutional customers, ghost kitchens, club stores and any other outlet or method of distribution, pursuant to any terms and conditions as Bojangles may deem appropriate.
Since Bojangles retains certain rights within the franchisee's Assigned Area, the franchisee will not receive an exclusive territory and may face competition from other franchisees, from outlets that Bojangles owns, or from other channels of distribution or competitive brands that Bojangles controls. A franchisee may only solicit sales and orders, fulfill orders, and prepare and sell food from their Restaurant locations; and they may deliver food only to customers at their Restaurant locations; however, they are not restricted from advertising outside their location if all sales are made from their Restaurant locations.