MULTI
BRAND
BY HELEN BOND
Chicken and Eggs
J
Southern strategy pays off for this growing duo
ake Alleman considers himself lucky for the success that has come his way. Yet when opportunity knocked, his ability to respond has been a driving force in building an expanding portfolio for the Cojak Restaurant Group, where he serves as COO. Based in Lafayette, La., Cojak is a franchisee of Another Broken Egg Cafe and Chicken Salad Chick, two Southern-inspired concepts poised for growth.
Alleman, who worked at the original Broken Egg Cafe in Mandeville, La., nearly 20 years ago, was the first franchisee to sign with the brand. Today his company owns and operates 13 of the brand’s cafes, stretching east from Louisiana to Winter Park, Fla., with plans to add five more in the next three years. His roots with Another Broken Egg Cafe run deep. In 2001, Alleman worked as a busboy and server at the brand’s first
location while attending Louisiana State University. When the brand geared up to franchise, he was approached about buying into the concept. He turned to his friend Cody Gielen (now president of their company), who scheduled a meeting with his grandfather, the late John Dan Gielen, who died this past February at 79. John Dan Gielen was a local legend who built the ShopRite and Tobacco Plus convenience stores, as well as Church Point Wholesale, into a Louisiana empire. Yet before Alleman even had the chance to try selling the elder Gielen on the venture, the businessman agreed to partner with the young entrepreneurs, saying he was eager to return the favor for all the support he had received when starting out in business, Alleman recalls. In 2007, Alleman and Cody Gielen, both 25 at the time, had just opened the doors of their first Another Broken Egg Cafe in Lafayette, when word that an existing restaurant in Panama City Beach, Fla., was up for sale. “The landlord of the complex decided he was going to try to take on the restaurant and keep it open,” Alleman says. “When I found out, I called him 32 days straight before he actually picked up the NAME: Jake Alleman TITLE: COO COMPANY: Cojak Restaurant
Group, and Cojak Investments
NO. OF UNITS: Another Broken Egg Cafe, 13; Chicken Salad Chick, 1 AGE: 35 FAMILY: Wife Katie, daughters
Charlotte 5 and Alice 1
YEARS IN FRANCHISING: 10 YEARS IN CURRENT POSITION: 10
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MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE IS S UE II, 2018
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3/16/18 3:25 PM