Everything You Want To Know About The Shed Franchise!
BBQ: Blues - Beer - 'Que
Our mascot, Spare the Pig, sez...
Hey Friend, welcome to THE SHED! You've come to the right place. Lemme tell you about our franchise.
When you see THE SHED for the first time, everything you ever heard about good ole barbeque "joints" comes into sharp focus and turns into reality right in front of your eyes. This is IT. This is Everybody's idea of true Southern Hospitality, good times, great barbeque-and an outrageous franchise opportunity for the right folks.
You step through the front door and follow the line of folks up to one of the counters to place your order. Most "first-timers" look like deer caught in the headlights. It's a virtual "Mardi Gras" for your senses. Hanging lights, signs and folksy sayings on every pole, neon, music, great smells and warm smiles wash over you like fond memories from back in the day.
A FamilyFoodDrinkery.TM
And that's just how it all started. Brad Orrison graduated from "Ole Miss" in 2000 with a dream. It started taking shape on some land his folks owned adjacent to their RV park. Brad and sister Brooke managed to build a small 300 square foot "shed" to be used for cooking and to serve as a take-out window for their barbeque. 
In just a few years it has morphed and grown into a 3,500 square foot building with a few thousand more feet for outdoor seating and a stage for live music.
THE SHED is nationally known, and has earned multiple awards and recognition for serving some of the best barbeque in the country, culminating in being named among the "Best of the Best BBQ Restaurants in America," for the last four years in a row (2003-2006) by the National BBQ News Magazine, and having received the "Spirit of Barbeque - Restaurant of the Year," award at the National Barbeque Association Convention in 2005. And the list goes on...
Some of the Awards & Recognition we're earned include:
"Best Venue of Coast Attitude" Coast Night Life Observer 2004
"Best Barbeque on Coast" Coast Night Life Observer
"Best Pork Sandwich 2001" National BBQ News
2004 Tapestry Award "Retail Small Business of the Year" MS Business Journal and the Sun Herald
"National Who's Who in Executives and Professionals" 2005, 2006 Edition Brad & Brooke
"Top 10 Business Leaders Under Forty" Award Brooke O. Lewis South MS Business Journal
"Top 50 Business Women in Mississippi" Brooke O. Lewis MS Business Journal
The Shed BBQ Joint Franchise
THE SHED franchise program isn't quite like other franchised food concepts (thank goodness!). First and foremost, THE SHED's quality of food and its unique atmosphere will not be compromised, although your "SHED BBQ Joint" will have an atmosphere unique to your local market area. Your SHED BBQ Joint will offer great barbeque, cold beer and live music, served up in a family friendly setting of picnic tables and paper towels.
We have a lot of fun at THE SHED-but we understand this is serious business. It's also SHOW business. Our audience is our customers, and our performers are our staff (aka "SHEDCrew" or "Crew"). We treat them all with respect, appreciation and service. We have developed a "Family" made up of our customers and our ShedCrew. We truly value the relationships we have built with them and it has proven to be a key element in our success.
We are part of the food industry segment known as "fast casual," the fastest growing part of the industry. We aren't fast food, and we definitely aren't fine dining, but we have fine food served in a very casual atmosphere. We offer eat in, take out and catering. And we do it all just five days a week.
Walk a Smile in our Shoes.
Folks don't want to pay more, they want more for what they paid for and that's exactly what they get at THE SHED-that's true "ShedStyle." ShedHeds order and pay at the counter, and we hand them their drinks. When the food is ready, we holler their name out and bring it to their table. Each runner makes sure the customers get what they wanted, then keeps on runnin' to the next one. We don't "wait" on our ShedHeds so that they don't have to wait on us for service (although they may wait up to an hour for food-no, not because we're slow-we're just that busy!).
"[The Shed] capsulizes the characteristics of the quintessential ‘cue shack. In south Mississippi the words ‘great barbeque' equal The Shed in Ocean Springs. You need to see this funky place on a bayou with trees, built with leftover tin and wood." Barbeque Lover's Guide to the United States, Sky Magazine (Delta Airlines), July 2006
You can't fool the public or your employees. They know good food, good service and a good time. That my friend is ShedStyle, and we will teach you that too!
Location, Reputation, Destination
Your SHED BBQ Joint should become a destination location. Regular ShedHeds will bring their friends, and new customers will seek you out, because of THE SHED's reputation for food, fun and a family-friendly atmosphere-that's why we call ourselves a "FamilyFoodDrinkery."TM
We want to be in an area that's laid-back, OK with beer sales, live music and food preparation. We'll help you design and "dress" your Joint. Our training Crew will personally work with you to help recruit and train your own ShedCrew, from your kitchen manager, to pitmaster and runners.
We will teach you our system and our food, but you need to teach us about your market. We know that once your customers come to your SHED BBQ Joint, they'll be more than pleased. We expect to learn a few things from our franchise owners, too. We may even add or change a menu item or two in markets that have different community tastes-but our basics will never be compromised.
Our marketing program doesn't start inside the Joint-but outside-in your picnic area and in your market area.
Pickin at Your Picnic.
Folks love a picnic. That's the atmosphere we try to build outside. You'll have a play area for the kids, a fire pit for evenings, and a stage for live music on weekends. It's a proven crowd pleaser that sets you completely apart from the other BBQ "restaurants." Once there your customers will spread the word about your uniqueness, good music and great food. It takes a strategic plan to "stage" special entertainment events, and we have the Crew and guidelines to train you for that also. That's just a part of our regular community involvement and participation.
GET FED AT THE SHED
We're confident you'll love our food, our style of fun, and a "family" of friendly ShedHeds and Crew. We're building a solid franchise program to support you and our other franchise owners. We can't be all things to all people, but we can offer you a challenging and exciting business opportunity, if you're the right person. That's why we want to meet with you personally. We want to get to know you better, to find out if your business goals match ours. Of course we don't have a "crystal ball" to tell us the future, and you need to find out all you can in order to make an educated business decision.
On Signing The Franchise Agreement
An investment of $25,000 for THE SHED franchise rights provides you:
- Grant of an Exclusive Territory
- Design & Layout Planning Assistance
- Site Selection & Lease Negotiation Assistance
- Owner/Manager/Employee Franchise Training Program
- Opening Assistance for your Joint
- In-Field Operations Support and Training Updates
- Use THE SHED Name, Marks and Systems
Before Opening For Buisness
An additional investment is required to open your SHED franchise:
Expenses (Lease or Conversion)
Category | Low | High |
Franchise Fee | $25,000 | $25,000 |
Leasehold Improvements* | $150,000 | $500,000 |
Lease Deposit | $5,000 | $7,500 |
Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment | $125,000 | $165,000 |
Point of Sale (POS) System | $25,000 | $30,000 |
Signage | $10,000 | $15,000 |
Permits | $2,000 | $2,500 |
Fees | $3,000 | $5,000 |
Opening Inventory and Services | $15,000 | $20,000 |
Grand Opening Advertising | $10,000 | $15,000 |
Travel & Living Costs While Training | $5,000 | $7,000 |
Additional Funds for 3 Monts | $40,000 | $50,000 |
TOTAL (Including Franchise Fee) | $415,000 | $842,000 |
Here are the simple steps to help us both make good decisions:
First, click on our interactive "Questionnaire" and submit it back to us, or download the Questionnaire and fax or mail it to us. As you can tell from the Questionnaire, we don't ask too many personal questions right away, just the basics. We also included an "Investment" sheet highlighting the investment range required to open THE SHED.
When we receive your Questionnaire, we'll send you our complete brochure, and if you're financially qualified
, we'll also send you our franchise documents for your review. Then, we'll schedule a time to meet, greet and eat at The Shed! We'll answer your questions and find out if we have the makings of a good business deal between us.
We can't say it all in the space of this site alone, but we will welcome you as a fellow ShedHed the first chance we get to feed you, and perhaps feed your dreams, too.
Thanks for your interest in THE SHED BBQ Joint. We'll keep the ribs hot and the beer cold for ya!