Is Chesters obligated to respond to a proposed site within a specific timeframe?
Chesters Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
We first must approve your site before signing the Agreement, even if you already have a site picked out for the Restaurant. When you approach us, we will give you our site-selection criteria for a Restaurant. Factors we consider in evaluating Restaurant sites include (1) a site's visibility from adjacent traffic arteries, (2) ease of entry from and exit to adjacent streets, (3) the size, density, and income levels of population in the surrounding area, (4) the rental market in the area, (5) types of nearby businesses, (6) projected cost of leasehold improvements, and (7) proximity to another franchised Restaurant or to a Licensed Restaurant. We must accept all sites before you have the right to sign any lease, sublease, or other document for the site. We will evaluate the information you give us about a site. Our review process might or might not involve a physical site inspection. We will not take an unreasonable amount of time to review your proposed site. However, we need not respond within any particular time. We will either accept or reject your proposed site. We will not unreasonably withhold our acceptance of a site but can reject one we consider inappropriate. Although we have the right to accept or reject a Restaurant's location, we will not select or designate a Restaurant site for you. Therefore, you must actively conduct the site-selection process. You have sole risk for your location's business and financial suitability. As noted above, we will not sign the Agreement if you have not yet located the Restaurant's site.
We anticipate that it takes approximately 2 to 4 months after the Agreement is signed and you pay the training fee before the Restaurant is ready to open. Factors affecting this timeframe include construction and remodeling schedules; local ordinance and/or building code compliance; schedules for installing equipment and signs; completing brand standard training programs; delivering and stocking inventory; and other events beyond your control. You must open the Restaurant for business within 180 days after signing the Agreement.
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS, AND TRAINING (FDD pages 24–29)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Chesters's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, Chesters is not obligated to respond to a proposed site within a particular timeframe. However, Chesters states that it will not take an unreasonable amount of time to review a proposed site.
Before a franchisee can sign the Franchise Agreement, Chesters must approve the site, even if the franchisee has already selected it. Chesters will provide site-selection criteria for a Restaurant, including factors such as visibility, ease of access, population density and income levels, the rental market, nearby businesses, leasehold improvement costs, and proximity to other Chesters locations.
Chesters has the right to accept or reject a proposed site but will not select a site for the franchisee. The franchisee bears the sole risk for the location's business and financial suitability. The FDD indicates that it typically takes 2 to 4 months after signing the Agreement and paying the training fee for the Restaurant to be ready to open, with factors such as construction, local ordinances, equipment installation, training, and inventory affecting this timeframe. The franchisee must open the Restaurant within 180 days after signing the Agreement.