Happy Joe's Franchise

Happy Joe's is a franchise for a pizza and ice cream parlour. It was founded in 1972 and started franchising in 1973.

It was founded by Lawrence Joseph Whitty. The first location was opened in East Davenport, Iowa. Lawrence Joseph Whitty worked in a bakery business before he even became an assistant manager at a branch of Shakey’s Pizzeria. With these experiences, he decided to open up his own business. His family would frequently go out for pizza then ice cream for dessert and that is where the concept was started for a pizza and ice cream parlour. His specialty pizza was firstly made from leftovers in the kitchen of his mom. There was sauerkraut and Canadian bacon and soon named Happy Joe’s Special. One of his franchisees suggested adding tacos in the menu and that became the birth of their Taco Pizza which is their best-selling product. They also offer catering services and pizza delivery. They now have 50 locations in the United States and eight locations that are company owned. They are located in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

What is on the menu at a Happy Joe’s?

For appetizers, they have Cinnamon Stix, Cheese Stix, Pizza Stix, Garlic Toast, and Wings. Their specialty pizzas are BLT, BBQ Joe, Combo, Combo Plus, Hawaiian, Meatworks, Vegetarian, and Happy Joe’s Special. For Mexican Pizzas, they have Nacho Joe, Matador, Taco Supreme, and Taco Joe. They also have Paninis in Hoagie, Italian, Chicken Swiss, Turkey Bistro, Meatball, and Pizza Hero. For pasta, there are Oven Baked Spaghetti, Taco Pasta, Combo Pasta, Taco Pasta Supreme, Oven Baked Pasta, and Taco Pasta Supreme. For salads and soups, they have Cobb Salad, Caesar Chicken Salad, Deluxe Taco Salad, and Joe’s Special Chili. For Ice Cream Treats, they have Caramel Fudge Pecan Sundae, Five Spoon Sundae, Classic Sundae, Circus Funny Face, Hot Fudge Banana Sundae, Creamy Cookie Creation, Mint Chocolate Marvel, Malts and Shakes, Peanut Butter Cup Sundae, Monkey’s Favorite, S’Mores, Root Beer Float, Snap-A-Roo, Silly Willy, Sugar Daddy Dish, and Snickered. They also have a menu for mornings which includes Omelette Pizza, Breakfast Burrito, Scrambler, and Breakfast Rolls.

Cost and requirements on running a Happy Joe’s franchise

You need to have a total liquid asset of at least $300,000. Expect to be investing about $113,000 to $1,216,000. The cost of Happy Joe’s franchise fee is $20,000 to $25,000 with an on-going royalty fee of 4.5%. This is for a renewable 15 year term agreement. You will need about 45 employees to run one location. They allow multi-unit ownership and absentee ownership.

What is included in the franchise package?

You will be receiving newsletters and a toll free phone number. You will be given access to the internet and to purchasing cooperatives. You will also be given assistance at the grand opening. Expect to be attending meetings and receiving occasional field evaluations. There will also be trainings, insurance, initial inventory, signage, lease, utility, and security deposits. For marketing support, there will be ad slicks, co-op advertising, regional advertising, and national media.

Happy Joe’s Contact Details

You may reach them at:

Address: 2705 Happy Joe Drive Bettendorf, IA 52722

Phone: (563)332-8811

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