Canine-friendly bars are emerging in the United States, and a Florida-based brand launched a franchise system to get ahead of the curve.
Husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Alex Wright and Sheila Suhar founded Pups Pub, an off-leash indoor and outdoor dog sports bar, in 2020. After building their careers in real estate and managerial roles, they felt the time was right to start their own venture, but wanted to make sure it was something they were passionate about.
“We started looking and saw dog bars becoming a fun trend and visited a few,” Wright said. “We immediately loved the concept and felt that we could vastly improve on it with our skills. We started putting things together in 2020 and then the whole world shut down for COVID.”
Alex Wright is the founder of Pups Pub.
Wright said they kept workshopping the brand during the pandemic, though, from creating the company’s logo and identity to securing their first location in Tampa. After several months of prep work, the first bar opened in December 2020.
“We were really well-received by the community,” Wright said. “After opening, we started establishing some great relationships with other dog businesses and adoption agencies. We built a brand and proved the concept and felt like we could move forward with expansion and looked into the next closest market, which was Orlando.”
Introducing the brand to Orlando was easier from Wright’s knowledge of the community, having worked for the city’s NBA team, the Magic. Wright said they had plans to continue expansion, but already running two locations was challenging. That’s when franchising entered the picture.
“It’s all about time and money,” Wright said. “For us to do it ourselves, we would only be able to open one every couple of years. More importantly, we didn’t have the bandwidth to do so. We felt that way wouldn’t work for us, so we decided to go with franchising, which allows you to expand much faster.”
Dogs are welcome in the indoor and outdoor sections at Pups Pub.
To assist in building their system, the Pups Pub founders enlisted consulting firm Franchise Well. Ben Litalien, the founder and principal of the firm, said he was excited about the opportunity because of the potential to attract future owners.
“I think there are thousands of like-minded people out there who enjoy going to a local, neighborhood bar and also appreciate dogs and pets,” Litalien said. “I think they would welcome the opportunity to not just be a customer, but own something in their own community.”
To attract future owners, Pups Pub started a program called Pack Leaders, offering a discounted franchise fee of $35,000 for the first 10 franchisees, rather than the normal $50,000. Additionally, Wright, a U.S. Air Force veteran, said the brand offers a 25 percent discount on franchise fees for owners who’ve served in the military.
“The growth strategy is centered on owner-operators,” Litalien said. “We want to build a foundation of the business with people who are there every day and making it part of the fabric of the community. From there, we anticipate the business model will evolve to where it’s attractive to investors and that opens the door to multi-unit, regional development.”
Ben Litalien is the founder of consulting firm Franchise Well.
The brand is targeting communities in the southeast for expansion, and potential franchisees can either build new locations or convert existing structures that are 4,500 square feet or larger.
The initial fee for a conversion is between $300,000 and $500,000, while building new is between $500,000 and $750,000. Wright said owners with bar and restaurant experience are ideal, but they’re also open to franchisees with a passion for the concept and success in other ventures.
“We’ve heard from potentially interested franchisees already,” Wright said. “There’s a lot of demand, and that’s given us confidence. We feel like this category is the Wild West out there—it’s all about who’s going to be first to market and capture the dog bar space. Our plan is to be first and set the bar.”
Mutts Canine Cantina, which got its start 10 years ago, is another bar and grill franchise with a dog park component. Four locations are open and the concept uses prefabricated, modular units to speed up construction.