What is the geographic restriction on owning or operating a competing restaurant to Bojangles during the term of the agreement?
Bojangles Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
H. Franchisee shall comply with any surviving covenants contained in Paragraph XVIII. of this Agreement.
XVIII. COVENANTS
- A. Franchisee acknowledges that, pursuant to this Agreement, Franchisee will receive valuable specialized training and confidential information, including, without limitation, information relating to the operational, sales, promotional, and marketing methods and techniques of Franchisor and the System. Accordingly, Franchisee covenants that:
- (1) During the term of this Agreement, except as otherwise approved in writing by Franchisor, Franchisee and its shareholders or members shall not, either directly or indirectly, for themselves, or through, on behalf of, or in conjunction with any person, persons, partnership, corporation or limited liability company:
- (a) Divert or attempt to divert any business or customer of the Restaurant to any competitor, by direct or indirect inducement or otherwise, or do or perform, directly or indirectly, any other act injurious or prejudicial to the goodwill associated with Franchisor's Proprietary Marks, Trade Dress and the System; or
- (b) Own, maintain, advise, help, invest in, make loans to, be employed by, be the landlord of, engage in, or have any interest in:
- (i) Any restaurant business which: (a) competes with any Bojangles restaurant or which sells fried chicken, biscuits and/or biscuit sandwiches, or other items which are featured menu items at Bojangles restaurants; and (b) is located within ten (10) miles from the Restaurant or any Bojangles restaurant that is open, planned for construction or under construction; or
- (ii) Any fast food restaurant business which is located (a) within ten (10) miles from the Restaurant or any Bojangles restaurant that is open, planned for construction, or under construction, or (b) within the designated market area within which the Restaurant is situated.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 82)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Bojangles's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, during the term of the agreement, franchisees are restricted from engaging in any competitive restaurant business without written approval from Bojangles. Specifically, franchisees (and their shareholders or members) cannot own, maintain, advise, help, invest in, make loans to, be employed by, be the landlord of, engage in, or have any interest in a restaurant business that competes with Bojangles.
This restriction applies to any restaurant that either competes with a Bojangles restaurant or sells similar items like fried chicken, biscuits, or biscuit sandwiches. The geographic scope of this restriction extends to any such restaurant located within ten miles of the franchisee's Bojangles restaurant or any other Bojangles restaurant that is open, planned for construction, or under construction.
Additionally, the restriction applies to any fast-food restaurant business located within ten miles of a Bojangles restaurant or within the designated market area (DMA) where the franchisee's restaurant is situated. This means that even if a franchisee doesn't directly own a competing fried chicken restaurant, involvement in any fast-food business within the specified area could be a violation of the agreement. Franchisees are bound by these covenants during the term of the agreement.