What obligations does Checkersrallys have in Item 11 regarding site selection, and how does this relate to the franchisee's obligations for site selection in Item 9?
Checkersrallys Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
assistance.
Pre-Opening Obligations
We will provide the following pre-opening assistance:
- We will provide guidance to you in locating and developing the Franchised Restaurant as we deem appropriate. (Franchise Agreement, Sections 3.02 and 3.03);
If you have suggested a location for the Franchised Restaurant which we approve before or concurrently with the execution of the Franchise Agreement, the location will be identified in the Franchise Agreement. If we and you have not agreed upon an approved location for the Franchised Restaurant before signing the Franchise Agreement, then you must select a site for the Franchised Restaurant within the geographic area we designate ("Designated Area"). You must, within 180 days after the date of the Franchise Agreement, locate and submit for our approval a site acceptable to us within the Designated Area for the Franchised Restaurant. We will approve or disapprove each site that you propose according to our general criteria for selection of a Checkers Restaurant or Rally's Restaurant site. The site must meet our criteria for demographic characteristics; traffic patterns; parking; character of neighborhood; competition from, proximity to, and nature of other businesses; size; appearance; and other physical and commercial characteristics. We will use reasonable efforts to help analyze your market area, to help determine site feasibility, and to assist in designating the location, although we will not conduct site selection activities for you. We will provide you with our standard site selection criteria and on-site evaluations of sites, as we deem appropriate. If you enter into a Development Agreement with us, you must select sites within your specified Development Area and we will approve them in accordance with our then current criteria for selection of a Checkers Restaurant or Rally's Restaurant site.
Before you acquire, by lease or purchase, any site for your Restaurant, you must submit a franchise site package to us in the form, content and substance as we then require.
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Checkersrallys's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, Item 11 outlines the franchisor's limited assistance with site selection, while Item 9 details the franchisee's obligations in this process. Checkersrallys will provide guidance in locating and developing the Franchised Restaurant as they deem appropriate. However, Checkersrallys is not required to provide any assistance except as listed.
The franchisee is primarily responsible for site selection. If a location isn't agreed upon before signing the Franchise Agreement, the franchisee must select a site within a designated geographic area within 180 days of the agreement date and submit it for Checkersrallys's approval. Checkersrallys will then approve or disapprove the site based on their general criteria, considering factors like demographics, traffic patterns, parking, neighborhood character, competition, size, and appearance. Checkersrallys will use reasonable efforts to help analyze the market area, determine site feasibility, and assist in designating the location, but they will not conduct site selection activities for the franchisee.
Item 9 summarizes the franchisee's obligations, explicitly mentioning "Site selection and acquisition/lease" and referencing Sections 3.01, 3.02, 3.03, and Exhibit B of the Franchise Agreement, as well as Sections 3.01 and 3.02 and Exhibit A of the Development Agreement, and Items 7, 8, and 11 of the FDD. This reinforces that the franchisee bears the primary responsibility for finding a suitable location that meets Checkersrallys's criteria, while Checkersrallys offers limited guidance and final approval. Prospective franchisees should carefully review Checkersrallys's site selection criteria and understand the approval process to ensure they can find an acceptable location within the given timeframe.