Owning a Wild Bird Center franchise is like running a business out of your own back yard. In shops filled with plants, birdbaths, bird feeders and even ponds, Wild Bird Center franchisees cater to local birdlovers with products and tips designed to keep back yards healthy and the birdwatching plentiful and fulfilling.

Americans spent $2.6 billion on birdseed alone in 2001, and Wild Bird Center�s product line extends far beyond your typical wild bird food. The store�s offerings include top-quality, exclusive birdseed blends as well as feeders, nest boxes, binoculars and spotting scopes.

In line with the friendly backyard environment, each Wild Bird Center also fills a niche in the community by hosting educational events such as monthly birdwalks, demonstrations, seminars and children�s programs. Corporate partnerships further Wild Bird Center�s goal of maintaining healthy natural habitats. The franchisor has teamed up with groups such as the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, the National Bluebird Society, the National Bird-Feeding Society and the wild bird feeding institute.

 

Investment Required
The fee for a Wild Bird Centers franchise is $18,000.

Wild Bird Centers provides the following range of investments required to open your initial franchise. The range assumes that all items are paid for in cash. To the extent that you choose to finance any of these expense items, your front-end investment could be substantially reduced.

 

On-Going Expenses
Wild Bird Center franchisees pay a royalty fee equal to 3-4% of gross sales (depending on market size), a promotion fee equal to 0.5% of gross sales and a cooperative marketing fee of $2,700 a year. Other costs include a $2,000 lump-sum fee for training.

What You Get�Training and Support
Wild Bird Center support includes a 7-day training program; the fruits of constant scientific and consumer testing and research into proprietary birdseeds and feeders; in-store d�cor that mixes hard data about customer-traffic patterns with wooden fixtures, colors and lighting that offset and highlight products for sale; and an internal intranet site with discussion groups, product information and company documents. In addition, a customized point-of-sale register system increases efficiency and enables accurate keeping of advertising and marketing lists that detail customers� buying and contact information.

For further training, Wild Bird Center manuals cover selling techniques, promotion and community outreach, scientific studies, advertising, visual merchandising, and computer and store operations.

Just as each Wild Bird Center becomes part of its local community, each Wild Bird Center also joins a systemwide community with their fellow centers. Franchisees contribute photographs and articles to the Wild Bird News newsletter, swap ideas for advertising, merchandising and community programs, even refer customers to one another and work together to get the right product in a customer�s hands.

Territory
Wild Bird Center grants exclusive territories with populations of approximately 50,000 to 250,000 people within areas encompassing approximately 25 to 100 square miles.