DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ

david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com

Jack in the Box is seeking people to open the first locations in the Bowling Green Area for itself and its subsidiary Del Taco.

They see opportunities for at least four Jack in the Box locations and three Del Tacos, said Dustin Thompson, the company’s director of franchise marketing and development.

The remaining need is franchisees — people willing to open at least three locations of either fast food brand, according to Thompson. Once the company announces it’s found the right franchisee, that person has 18 months to open the first store, which will typically arise in 18-24 months. After the first 18 months, a franchisee has 12 months to open up a second store and another 12 months for store three, Thompson said.

The companies aren’t being specific about precise locations this early, but they’ve confirmed that the greater Bowling Green area has opportunities that meet their criteria, Thompson said: 25,000 people within a 1- to 2-mile radius, 25,000 passing cars (typically in front of the restaurant) and a daytime worker population of 10,000 within 2 miles.

They’ll be looking for what are known as outparcels, he added – “think of a big-box retail store (…) near a main road,” and these would typically already have buildings such as restaurants. Another possibility are end caps, locations at the right or left end of a shopping center with drive-thru access.

The initiative is part of expansion across the much larger region – from across Kentucky in Louisville and Lexington, to Indianapolis, Illinois, Ohio, Alabama, the Carolinas, Mississippi and parts of Tennessee such as Nashville and Clarksville.

“For Del Taco, basically a similar story … . ”

A franchisee would pay $50,000 per Jack in the Box along with a royalty of 5% and advertising royalty of 5%, he said; for Del Taco, those figures are $35,000, 4% and 5%.