$GIGL Low Float, Global Expansion, Experienced Management
133 Million Shares Outstanding 37 Million Shares Restricted 96 Million Float
1/26/2017 - GIGL sings LOI with $1.4 Million in tenant allowances which covers the cost of the first Northern CA location. (Allows GIGL to open new locations essentially free)
3/8/2017 - GIGL announces multi-faceted partnership with Jillian Michaels. Jillian will become one of the largest shareholders in the company. (Restricted shares increased by 8.8 million after this announcement. We don't know how much Jillian invested yet but it could be significant.)
3/29/2017 - GIGL announces Tia Mowry as Celebrity Brand Ambassador. "She will be making appearances at new store grand openings and other media events to discuss and promote all things Giggles N Hugs." (New store grand openings essentially confirmed in this PR.)
Joey Parsi had a long and successful career as an investment manager and entrepreneur. He had a 20+ year career working on Wall Street for Lehman Brothers, Sutro and Company, and Prudential Securities. Parsi previously served as an investment advisor for Lehman Brothers; senior vice president at Sutro and Company, where he managed and oversaw millions of dollars for individual and institutional investors specializing in IPOs and technology equities; and worked at Prudential Securities where he oversaw client assets in a number of investments.
In 1998, Parsi opened Barron Chase and was able to expand the company to more than 30 employees. In total, Parsi and his team raised more than $30 million in funding for nine separate companies, many of which are now publicly traded on the NASDAQ markets. After liquidating the business in 2001 he joined TD Waterhouse, where he personally managed more than $350 million in assets for clients, and oversaw more than $1 billion in assets in his region. Parsi then went on to found Giggles in 2008.
John Kaufman, President
John Kaufman was the COO at California Pizza Kitchen when the founders had just two locations and grew the company along with Philip Gay as CFO to over 100 locations. Pepsi Co. bought the pizza chain at this point, and Kaufman was recruited to become president of Koo Koo Roo Chicken, one of the fastest growing fast casual concepts on the west coast.
Philip Gay, CFO
Philip Gay was previously the CEO at the Daily Grill restaurant group, a publicly traded Restaurant concept with 50 locations throughout the country. Prior to that, Gay was CFO at California Pizza Kitchen, growing the concept along with John Kaufman as COO from two stores when he started to over 100 when he left after the company was sold to Pepsi Co. He joined Wolfgang Puck Restaurants group as CFO eventually becoming the CEO.
Sean Richards, COO
Sean Richards joined Giggles in 2010, bringing with him more than 20 years of operations management experience. He previously managed and ran operations for Pink Taco restaurants, Hard Rock, House of Blues and Hooters casino among other national brands.
Joan Barnes, Advisory Board Member
Joan Barnes is the founder and former CEO of Gymboree, which is the largest clothing retailer in the nation for kids. She has been instrumental in helping us with Giggles' merchandising and licensing which she in essence pioneered some 30 years ago when she licensed the Gymboree brand. With Barnes' help, Giggles is rolling out a variety of products for kids including, branded clothing, branded toys, frozen foods, and other merchandising products.
Todd Star, head of real estate expansion
Todd Star was senior executive VP for Westfield USA, overseeing its west coast leasing operations for 14 years. He is a strong asset to Giggles as he leads expansion negotiations with several of the largest mall owners in the U.S., including General Growth Properties, Simon Property Group, and Westfield Group, who collectively own more than 500 properties worldwide.
Franchising:
When the company is ready to launch the franchising initiative, we expect to receive upfront licensing fees from franchisees, in addition to ongoing royalties. Based on discussions with franchise operators and other factors, multi unit licensing fees could range from several hundred thousand dollars to millions of dollars, while ongoing royalties should typically range from 3% to 8% of gross sales.
Philip Gay, Chief Business Development Officer of Giggles N’ Hugs, stated, “Franchising represents a significant growth opportunity for Giggles N’ Hugs, with global market potential exceeding millions of dollars. With margins above 25% expected from franchise operations, this strategy provides a great complement to our core company-owned growth initiatives. Based on my extensive personal experience in senior leadership positions with several highly successful enterprises including California Pizza kitchen and Wolfgang Puck Food inc. that have benefited from franchising, I believe Giggles N’ Hugs is well-positioned for long-term success in this arena when ready to launch which we hope to be very soon.”
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