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Successful Franchisee's
Restaurateur Extraordinaire: Sam
Covelli Does It With More Than
200 Locations
By: Tracy Staton
Sam Covelli says he grew up in
the restaurant business working
in his father's McDonald's.
Under his father's leadership,
Covelli Enterprises eventually
grew to 26 locations, one of the
largest McDonald's franchisees
in the country. But after the
senior Covelli handed over the
company reins to his son, you
could say that Covelli
Enterprises grew up with Sam
Covelli.
Under his leadership, the
company's McDonald's holdings
grew to 43 restaurants, keeping
Covelli Enterprises among
McDonald's top franchisees, and
an award-winning one at that.
Covelli sold off those
restaurants and shifted the
family business into Panera
Bread--and how.
Today, Covelli Enterprises owns
a 198 Panera Bread locations,
with 20 under construction,
making it Panera's single
largest franchisee and the
fifth-largest restaurant
franchisee in the country. Talk
about a "mega franchisee":
Covelli Enterprises has 20,000
employees, is looking at more
than $400 million in revenue for
2011, and has won multiple
awards for restaurant operations
and community service. As if
that's not enough, the company
has an agreement to develop 50
O'Charley's restaurants.
Keeping the operations on
track--and driving further
growth--puts Covelli on the road
every week. He enjoys visiting
his company's many stores more
than he'd like to play golf--and
he used to be a pretty good
golfer. "Honestly, I never truly
feel like I go to work," he
says. "I get out of bed and
can't wait to get in my car to
go to some of my restaurants."
One thing Covelli enjoys about
visiting the stores is seeing
employees grow with the company.
He likes giving workers the
chance to build a career by
working their way up. "We have
someone who was an assistant
manager 15 years ago, and now
he's head of operations for two
of our markets," says Covelli.
"I love to see people growing
like that from within."
The company's phenomenal growth
has also enabled Covelli to
follow some of his father's
advice--advice he considers to
be among the best he's ever
received. "One big thing my
father always preached to me
constantly was community," he
says. "We believe in giving
back. It's the right thing to
do."
Involvement in local communities
is the backbone of his business,
Covelli says, and the company
donates to dozens of
organizations, including
partnering with food banks and
other agencies to get unsold
bread and bakery products to
people who need them. Last year,
the Day-End Dough-Nation program
donated more than $10 million in
unsold goods to community
organizations.
Name: Sam Covelli
Title: Owner/Operator
Company: Covelli Enterprises
No. of units: 198 Panera Bread
and 20 under construction; 5
O'Charley's, with an agreement
to build 50

