What is a 'Certified Training Cafe' for a Corner Bakery Cafe franchise?
Corner_Bakery_Cafe Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
- 9.5.2 Certified Training Cafe. If you operate three or more franchised Cafes, within 90 days after you open your third Cafe, you must establish and continuously maintain one of your Cafes as a Cafe at which your trainers will offer the Initial Training Program to your employees and the employees of future Cafes that you develop (a "Certified Training Cafe").
We must certify a Cafe as a Certified Training Cafe before you may begin training there.
In order for a Cafe to be certified by us as a Certified Training Cafe, you must meet the requirements and qualifications set forth in the Manual.
We may periodically visit your Certified Training Cafe to ensure that it continues to meet our standards.
If you do not have a Certified Training Cafe as required, your Required Trainees must attend and successfully complete our initial training program at a training facility designated by us, which may be a Cafe operated by us or our affiliates, in which case you will be required to pay a tuition fee for your employees who attend the training program in addition to paying all salaries, meals, lodging, other living expenses and transportation costs incurred by your employees while attending the training program.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD page 55)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Corner Bakery Cafe's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a 'Certified Training Cafe' is a Corner Bakery Cafe location that a franchisee operates as a training center. Specifically, if a franchisee operates three or more Corner Bakery Cafe locations, they must establish and maintain one of their cafes as a Certified Training Cafe within 90 days of opening their third location. This cafe is where the franchisee's trainers will offer the Initial Training Program to their employees, as well as the employees of future Corner Bakery Cafe locations that the franchisee develops.
Corner Bakery Cafe requires that the franchisor certify a cafe before it can be used as a Certified Training Cafe. To become certified, the cafe must meet the requirements and qualifications outlined in the Corner Bakery Cafe Operations Manual. Corner Bakery Cafe may also periodically inspect the Certified Training Cafe to ensure that it continues to meet their standards.
If a franchisee is required to have a Certified Training Cafe but does not, their required trainees must attend Corner Bakery Cafe's initial training program at a training facility designated by Corner Bakery Cafe, which may be a cafe operated by Corner Bakery Cafe or its affiliates. In this case, the franchisee will be required to pay a tuition fee for their employees who attend the training program, in addition to paying all salaries, meals, lodging, other living expenses, and transportation costs incurred by their employees while attending the training program.
For a prospective Corner Bakery Cafe franchisee, this means that if they plan to expand and operate multiple locations, they will eventually need to invest in establishing and maintaining a Certified Training Cafe. This will involve ensuring the cafe meets Corner Bakery Cafe's standards and using it to train new employees. Failure to maintain a Certified Training Cafe can result in additional expenses for sending employees to Corner Bakery Cafe's designated training facilities.