If you go to a restaurant like Longhorn where you live, then go to another Longhorn 100 miles away, a lot of the decor will be the *exact same* items, down to statues. Is there some sort of catalogue?
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TLDR: The franchise corporation makes deals with companies that sell the decor, and the franchise owner is required to buy from those companies.
Part of the agreement you sign when you buy a franchise states that you will decorate your restaurant following the guidelines set by the parent company.
McDonalds corporate for example will tell you that you need to buy these chairs, this style of floor tile, use these paint colors etc. They have dedicated teams of stylists and interior decorators at corporate that figure out what a restaurant will look like and even do psychological research to figure out how it will affect customers and their business.
Corporate has contracts with companies that supply these materials at a set rate / discount (because they buy them in such large quantities). That ensures that each location looks very similar and that the experience is that same regardless of which location you go too. But it’s up to the franchise owner to actually pay for it all.
The downside of this agreement is if corporate decides to change something the franchises don’t have any choice but to comply. So if corporate decides all the locations need to be painted bright neon green, the franchises have to pony up the cash to repaint with a certain number of months or lose their franchise.
The upside is they have all these professionals behind the scenes taking care of all this stuff to make sure your restaurant is as successful as possible. Owning a franchise of a big chain is practically a license to print money as a result, because it’s difficult to fail.
Working at a franchise hotel, I can tell you that a lot of that comes down to the fact that the corporation makes deals with manufacturers (or just sets up their own) for materials, like wallpaper, carpeting, tablecloths, tables… Even basic materials, like plates and forks.
The intent is to lessen the cost for the franchisee, making it easier to run the business. The effect is that sometimes things get a little uniform.
Here, we have a lot of control over what we buy, with only the towels and linen being required from the brand, so the wallpaper, carpets, artwork, etc, might look different between two hotels of the same brand. But some things, like signage, have rules that must be followed, so there will be some things that just seem familiar.
There are companies that only source or create decorative elements for franchises like restaurants, specifically to keep the experience consistent from place to place. Their whole job is making those pieces of decor or finding and buying them in quantity for the restaurant.
There are companies that only source or create decorative elements for franchises like restaurants, specifically to keep the experience consistent from place to place. Their whole job is making those pieces of decor or finding and buying them in quantity for the restaurant.
Just as there are approved suppliers for a franchise’s ingredients and kitchen equipment, there are approved suppliers for decor. There may be a pre-set decor package new franchises buy as part of their buildout just like they follow guidelines on every other aspect of the physical space. Even if they look like old flea market finds, they’re likely replicas mass produced for the restaurants.
Usually getting a franchise license will get you access to the suppliers of the approved corporate décor/furnishings. Depending on the franchise agreement, you may be compelled to decorate only in an approved manner, or you may have a degree of freedom. Even if the franchise agreement allows you to decorate how you like, it can be easier to just buy all the corporate suggested junk rather than picking out everything custom.
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