WITH a retail and property boom having driven up demand for property and retail sites, food franchise chains are finding it increasingly difficult to find suitable sites for new outlets in the major metropolitan areas.

As competition for sites becomes fiercer, retailers are finding it easier to find quality property space in the semiurban and more rural centres in SA.

Franchise management company the Retsol Group, which has recently acquired a 50% shareholding in chicken franchise Chicken King and is looking to open more than 20 new Chicken King outlets nationwide a year over the next three to five years, is no exception.

Retsol also manages 140 Ola Milky Lane and Juicy Lucy franchises and is involved with a brand called Bread Ahead.

The group is planning to open 30 to 35 outlets a year for the Ola Milky Lane and Juicy Lucy brands over the next three to five years.

The group predominantly finds sites at shopping centres for these outlets. The total investment this year in new stores for Milky Lane, Juicy Lucy and Bread Ahead was in the region of R40m to R50m.

With Chicken King coming on board, the group expects that to increase substantially next year.

Retsol director Wayne Duncan says the group’s national property manager has relationships with all the major landlords in SA and the team visits towns around the country looking for sites.

“There are lots and lots of potential sites but the trick is finding the quality sites. We are not in the business of opening outlets for the sake of it. We need to look after our franchisees’ investments and we have to make sure that they go only into good-quality sites.”

He says the Chicken King brand is looking for sites at internodal transport hubs such as taxi ranks, bus stops and railway stations or outlets in close proximity to these hubs. “The real distinction is we are looking for foot traffic as opposed to car traffic.”

Duncan says the group invests in a combination of buying and renting property sites.

He says the prices for property and land are increasing all the time. “In the more metropolitan areas like Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban there is increasingly a shortage of good sites.

“As you go further out to more rural areas and semiurban areas like Polokwane and Nelspruit, you can dig down and find good sites.

“It all comes down to making contact with existing landlords and property owners. There is definitely competition for property sites from other retailers.”

He says the group has “very specific” site criteria. “Being a franchise company we can’t put them (franchisees) on to sites where the rentals and the projected turnovers are out of kilter.”