When Amol Kohli began working at a Philadelphia-area Friendly’s as a waiter in 2003, he was a stressed sophomore in highschool hoping to make some pocket change.
Kohli made about $5 an hour on the diner-style restaurant chain, doing any job his supervisor wanted, he tells CNBC Make It. On any given day, he was a cook dinner, a dishwasher, a desk busser, an ice cream scooper, you identify it.
More than 20 years later, Kohli added one other Friendly’s job title to his resume: Owner. On July 22, Kohli’s funding group Legacy Brands announced its acquisition of the whole Friendly’s chain — which has places in most states on the U.S. jap coast — plus its mum or dad firm Brix Holdings and 6 different restaurant manufacturers, for an undisclosed quantity.
The deal marked a fruits of kinds for Kohli, 37, who has now spent most of his life working at Friendly’s in some capability. Even whereas attending Drexel University — the place he double majored in finance and advertising — Kohli spent his summers working 5 to 6 days per week at Friendly’s, studying extra in regards to the ins and outs of the enterprise as time went on, he says.
“I started supporting a couple franchisees and just started learning what happens after the money makes its way into the register,” says Kohli. “Learning about insurance, payroll, food costs and all these other things. I did that all through college.”
Kohli graduated with honors in 2011, based on his LinkedIn profile, and selected to take a Friendly’s regional supervisor place as an alternative of pursuing a profession in finance, he says. A number of years later, he utilized to take over a closing franchise location. Licensing, contracting, and gear for the shop value round “a quarter of a million dollars,” together with credit score, cash from Kohli’s financial savings and funds he bought from mates and enterprise companions, he says.
“That’s how my franchising career started. And from there, it just never stopped,” says Kohli, who ultimately franchised 31 Friendly’s places earlier than shopping for the model outright.
An ‘unbelievable’ ascent with challenges forward
Kohli’s path to proudly owning his one-time employer began with plummeting gross sales at Friendly’s in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. The firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy safety in November 2020, and introduced plans to be acquired by Dallas-based franchising firm Brix Holdings for just below $2 million. The deal was finalized in 2021.
In May, Kohli based his personal funding group, Legacy Brands International, with a sole objective: Acquire Brix Holdings. He funded his funding group “through a mix of both capital (equity) and debt financing,” a spokesperson says.
The creation of Legacy Brands International was the results of “a combination of a lot of stars aligning, the right people supporting, faith, and a lot of goodwill that all got cashed in at one time,” says Kohli. And his lengthy observe report with the corporate made him “the ideal candidate for ownership,” Brix founder John Antioco said in a statement when the deal was introduced.
Kohli is now a franchisor who owns, however would not function, the opposite 60-plus Friendly’s restaurant places within the U.S., an organization spokesperson says. As a results of the deal, Kohli’s firm additionally now owns Clean Juice, Orange Leaf, Red Mango, Smoothie Factory + Kitchen, Souper Salad, and Humble Donut Co. The total portfolio consists of greater than 250 restaurant places.
The ascent from entry-level Friendly’s worker to chairman of Brix’s board of administrators is “unbelievable,” says Kohli. Yet he faces a problem reviving a model with dwindling places, he provides — simply over 100 right now, down from more than 800 in the mid-1990s.
More broadly, chain eateries have reported declining sales amid inflation and a shaky financial surroundings that is prompted many consumers to rethink how typically they wish to spend cash at a sit-down restaurant.
Kohli goals to modernize the manufacturers he oversees, leaning on know-how like a lately revamped Friendly’s cell app, Kohli advised Nation’s Restaurant News in August. He additionally hopes to draw new franchisees, utilizing his personal profession trajectory can show to be a promoting level, he now says.
Specifically, he needs individuals to see restaurant and meals service roles as alternatives to ascertain a long-term profession and begin constructing wealth, not simply dead-end jobs or gigs you ditch after commencement, he says. His explicit path is uncommon, however not utterly distinctive: Former IHOP CEO Julia Stewart was a waitress at IHOP as a youngster earlier than ultimately main the model from 2002 to 2017.
“Some of the people that are on my executive team now were dishwashers and cooks,” Kohli says. “This is one of the few [industries] in the entire world that you can literally start from that level and work your way up to a CEO or executive.”
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