Former Pizza Capers franchisee Audrey Xu opens new independent pizza shop at Helensvale on the Gold Coast

A former Retail Food Group franchisee says her business has a new lease on life after she turned her back on the troubled Gold Coast company and opened an independent pizza shop.

Audrey Xu, who operated Pizza Capers stores for 10 years, has turned independent and left Retail Food Group. She has opened Craft Pizza and More at Homeworld in Helensvale. Picture: Tim Marsden

FORMER Retail Food Group franchisee Audrey Xu says her business has a new lease of life after she turned her back on the troubled Gold Coast company and opened an independent pizza shop.

Ms Xu opened her first Pizza Capers shop at Capalaba Shopping Centre in 2008 adding one more at Homeworld in Helensvale two years later.

She has now rebranded the Helensvale store to Craft Pizza & More after ending her franchise agreement with Retail Food Group last year following a 10-year stint with the franchisor.

Ms Xu said her motivation to change was twofold: firstly to gain control of her product and secondly to stop paying franchise fees that added up to 12.5 per cent of revenue.

Pizza Capers was swallowed up by Retail Food Group in 2012.

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“We had built up relationships with all our loyal customers … so we thought if we close it down that would be wasted and the experience we gained would be wasted as well,” she said.

Ms Xu said the company changed after RFG took the Pizza Capers business over from founders Anthony Russo and Scott Geiszler.

Rather than being one of about 100 stores, she was one of 1240 outlets across a number of brands worldwide.

“Honestly we did not get much support,” she said.

“My business development manager at one stage said he was looking after 40 stores and that was one person.

RFG was savaged by the joint parliamentary inquiry into the franchise sector earlier this year, which found it had bled franchisees dry with an unjust business model.

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“So I didn’t expect they would be with me every week, not even every month. That’s was one reason we made the decision to change.” She said another reason was the franchisee fees.

“My break-even point is a lot lower now compared to previously.

“Our fees were 12.5 per cent of revenue which is quite a lot. I can now use that money in making our food better.”

She said rather than using pre-prepared vegetables and meat, required under her franchise agreement, she is now free to cook from scratch.

Another advantage was she can be more adaptive and change her menu quickly.

Audrey Xu, who operated a Pizza Capers stores for 10 years, has turned independent and left Retail Food Group. She has opened Craft Pizza and More at Homeworld in Helensvale. Pic Tim Marsden

“Previously we did not have that freedom. You have to contact the BDM and they would have to be happy with the idea and would pass it on to upper level management. I don’t have to go through those processes now.”

She said she has no ill-feeling towards RFG but felt being an independent store suited her better.

“This has given us more freedom and we can inject our experience and creativity into the new venture.”

A spokeswoman for RFG said the company offers its franchisees the independence of being a small business operator while being supported by the benefits of an established network.

“Industry statistics supporting the benefits of being a part of a franchised brand are well established,” she said.

“According to the NRA (National Retail Association), 80 per cent of independent small businesses fail in the first five years — far higher than the 20 per cent failure rate among franchisees.”

She said 85 per cent of RFG franchisees are profitable.