Before the pandemic, Alex Edwards owned a cotton candy stand as a side hustle to his 9-to-5 job as a local firefighter. In 2020, he quit his full-time job and upgraded to a food truck. He sold cotton candy and shaved ice and saw some success. At the end of 2020, he found these cool cans and began selling drinks. The unique beverages took off and quickly became his top-selling items.
Alex mentioned, “I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I didn’t know it would start with cotton candy.”
He quickly realized that he had something unique that he wanted to grow, so he and his team found a closed-down Boba shop in Rockford, Illinois, and renovated it to open the first Candy Cloud store. They focused all their energy and attention on the cans and everything beverage-related.
What makes Candy Cloud so different is its unique line of beverages. They sell coffee drinks, Boba brews, shakes, smoothies, and other unique libations. Alex fused everything he loved about drink shops into one fabulous idea. The stores offer new weekly specialty drinks, seasonal collections, and a fresh menu. They use quality local ingredients. For example, one of their top-selling drinks is strawberry lemonade, which they make on-premises by squeezing real lemons.
The first store launched in early 2022 was an instant success. Alex knew they wanted to franchise even before the store opened. They began franchising in November 2022 and have already granted six new franchises. Two franchises will be in Illinois and others in Cleveland, OH, Nashville, TN, Madison, WS, and Charlotte, NC.
Alex hopes to grant 30-40 new franchises next year and have 500 shops open within the next five years. They aim to grow quickly by planting their flag in all major cities and eventually taking the brand international.
The company has leaned hard on technology and self-ordering apps to make the experience quick and easy for patrons and franchisees.
The brand looks for hungry entrepreneurs to open new shops around the country. An ideal franchisee is a trailblazer who cares about the brand and wants to help them grow. Franchising allows Alex to offer something truly unique in the marketplace and provide new owners the opportunity to be a part of something big and create generational wealth to pass down to their families. Candy Cloud’s profitable business model is a rare opportunity.
When it came time to franchise, Alex turned to iFranchise Group for help and, through them, was introduced to Spadea Lignana, who handled all the legal aspects.
Alex and his team worked closely with Attorney Jessica Dempsey and Thomas Van Osten. He also singled out Sandee Devine, who provided excellent customer service.
“Overall, Spadea Lignana has been extremely helpful through the legal process. The franchise landscape can be a landmine; there are a lot of unknowns. Spadea Lignana has been very good at guiding me through that process as a new franchisor. They are quick at getting things done as needed and a helpful resource for anything related to franchising legal matters.” said Alex.
They offer their clients a unique program that covers their franchisor services for a flat monthly fee through their Core Program, and their Client Access Portal (CAP) provides clients with their unique disclosure system and transparency into where they are able to offer franchises.
Says founder and partner, Tom Spadea, “We are thrilled to be a part of Candy Cloud’s success and look forward to partnering with them as they expand nationally and globally.”
For more information about Candy Cloud franchise opportunities, visit their website.
