Can a Gold Star franchisee appoint an area manager to oversee the Restaurant Managers?
Gold_Star Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
The Manager must devote his or her full time and best efforts to the diligent and conscientious day-to-day, on-premises supervision and operation of the Restaurant. If you have more than one Restaurant, you must have a different Manager for each Restaurant and that Manager must devote his or her full time and best efforts to the diligent and conscientious day-today, on-premises supervision and operation of that one Restaurant (you may appoint an area Manager to oversee the Restaurant Managers but each Restaurant must also have its own Manager).
Source: Item 15 — Obligation to Participate in the Actual Operation of the Franchise Business (FDD pages 41–42)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Gold Star's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, if a franchisee owns more than one Gold Star restaurant, they have the option to appoint an area manager to oversee the restaurant managers. However, each individual restaurant must still have its own designated manager.
This area manager would be responsible for overseeing the restaurant managers, ensuring that each restaurant is operating efficiently and according to Gold Star standards. The area manager provides an additional layer of management and support for franchisees who have expanded their business to multiple locations.
This structure allows the franchisee to delegate some of the oversight responsibilities while still maintaining a dedicated manager at each location. This ensures that each Gold Star restaurant receives the attention it needs to maintain quality and customer service, while also providing the franchisee with a scalable management structure as they grow their business.