husband-and-wife team met in South-
ern California and settled in the Sacra-
mento area in 1998. Summer Gonzalez’s
local ties go back even further. When she
was 10 years old, she moved to the Arden
neighborhood, attended Howe Avenue El-
ementary and Ponderosa High and spent
her teenage years working at restaurants
in the area, including branches of fran-
chises such as TGI Fridays. Though she
prefers to eat at independent restaurants,
Gonzalez admires certain qualities of the
big chains. “They really have their ducks
in order, so to speak,” she says.
Kiki’s recent growth is powered by
licensing agreements, an arrangement
similar to those behind the chains Gon-
zalez worked at in her youth. In a licens-
ing agreement, the licensor sells the right
to use its name, products, logos and oth-
er branding elements in return for a per-
centage of sales. Kiki’s licensees, many of
whom are former employees, “may never
be able to own another business,” says
Gonzalez. “So this is an opportunity for
us to give to people who have worked for
us and let them have an opportunity to
own something.”
This scenario may sound like a fran-
chising agreement, but Kiki’s Chicken
Place is not a franchise. California is one of
13 states that require companies to regis-
ter a Franchise Disclosure Document with
the Department of Business Oversight be-
fore offering a franchise for sale. An FDD
registration costs hundreds of dollars to
file and can take years to acquire.
The Gonzalezes have turned to li-
censing agreements as a legal alternative
while they wait to apply for registration.
As licensors, they have less control over
the brand than they would as franchisors,
so they license only to people they trust.
They want to make sure that every detail
remains consistent across locations: the
crisp chicken, the long list of sauces, the
red walls hung with vinyl records. “The
food and the look is all a brand, so it has
to be the same,” says Gonzalez. With an
FDD registration, she could ensure the
consistency of the brand with less direct
supervision.
Squeeze Burger, one of Sacramento’s
celebrated local food institutions, also
has grown into a small chain with the
help of licensing agreements. Owner Tra-
vis Hausauer bought the restaurant (née
Squeeze Inn) in 2001 from Ken Noblett,
who opened the now-demolished origi-
nal location near McKinley Park in 1980.
Hausauer still owns Squeeze Burger’s
Power Inn Road headquarters, as well as
the Galt branch and a share of the one in
Stockton. The other five restaurants, plus
a location at Sacramento International
Airport and branded products in three
Sierra Energy gas station convenience
stores, operate under licenses.
“All you have to do is make sure that
you maintain the quality of everything,
whereas they’re responsible for every-
thing else,” says Hausauer of his agree-
ments with his licensees. During his first
years running Squeeze Inn with his late
business partner Greg Svoboda, Hausau-
er remembers working 11-hour days up
to six days a week. Licensing allowed him
to continue expanding his brand without
spreading himself as thin as the Squeeze
Burger’s signature cheese skirts. “There’s
only so much you can do as an owner,” he
says. “You don’t want to exhaust yourself
until you burn out.”
Kiki’s fries with cheese, buffalo sauce, ranch
and bleu cheese dressing.
PHOTO BY NICOLETTE LOVELL
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