The growth of bird watching as an outdoor recreational activity has paved the way for another successful year for Wild Birds Unlimited, North America’s original and largest franchise system of backyard bird feeding and nature specialty stores.
With nearly 300 locations throughout the United States and Canada, Wild Birds Unlimited closed out 2014 having opened nearly 10 additional stores and plans to open 15 in 2015. With a 3.79 percent increase in same store sales, 2014 marks the fifth consecutive year that Wild Birds Unlimited experienced an increase in same store sales.
“North America’s passion for birds and nature has presented our brand with the phenomenal opportunity to strengthen our market share across the country,” said Paul Pickett, VP of Franchise Development at Wild Birds Unlimited. “We are constantly reinventing ourselves and implementing new initiatives so that our franchise owners have the necessary tools to deliver exceptional service to their customers and operate a successful business.”
In addition to new store openings, the company signed 12 transfer owner franchise agreements in 2014. New store target markets include Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Albany, NY, Fredericksburg, VA and Roanoke, VA for franchise growth in 2015.
“Wild Birds Unlimited’s excellent training and amazing ongoing support has helped me build my franchise store and adapt it to my own community,” said Lauren DeRosa, who opened a Wild Birds Unlimited store in 2006 after spending 15 years working in the retail liquor store industry for her family’s business. “With entrepreneurism in my DNA, I began looking for the perfect business opportunity. I have always loved the bird feeding hobby and had been a Wild Birds Unlimited customer for a while, so it felt like a natural fit to talk about the products I was already using. I can confidently say that I’ve found the perfect formula to fill my days with a hobby that I love while making a wonderful living in the process.”
The continued growth of Wild Birds Unlimited has been recognized by well-known national business and franchise trade media outlets, including Franchise Update’s STAR Award, Franchise Times’ Top 200 list, Franchise Business Review’s prestigious 2015 Franchisee Satisfaction Awards, and most recently, the company ranked No. 149 in Entrepreneur magazine’s 37th Annual Franchise 500® list.
