Mary Patrick: Finding a Site (Months 1-6)

August 2005 – January 2006 – Finding a Site

·    August, 2005 – Mary and Joe Patrick became licensees of Java Jo’z Coffee & More and formed a corporation, Java Jo’z of Richmond, Inc. Java Jo’z was the name of the original licensing company out of Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The Patrick’s signed on as licensees with a one time payment, no royalty obligations, and no advertising fund contributions. They were guaranteed the same deal going forward if they expanded their operation into multiple locations.
·    The Patricks were put into a relationship with Millennium Venture Group, a site search firm with which Java Jo’z was working to help find suitable locations for their licensees. The Patrick’s were told to provide the information regarding their specific geographical region and demographics, and that MVG would find a site for them within 90 days. They were also told it would be approximately 90 more days from the time a site was found by MVG until they would be ready to open for business. The Patricks believed that by January, 2006 they would have a dual sided drive through open for business in the metro Richmond area. Mrs. Patrick did not resume her career as a teacher at this time because of anticipation of the work involved in preparing for and opening her new business.
·    After initially providing all the information required by MVG and taking their representative to view potential sites in the area, the Patricks were told to let them do their job and that soon a site would be in their hands. By early October, the Patricks began to follow up weekly to see where MVG was in the process, only to be told that it was being worked on. By November, there was very little contact or response from the MVG representative and little information was coming from Java Jo’z Corporate office regarding their site search when the Patricks inquired several times to check on the progress.
·    By the end of November, 2005, the Patricks were told that Java Jo’z Corporate had dissolved their relationship with MVG and that a site for their Richmond drive thru had not been found.
·    Mrs. Patrick began to diligently search for a suitable site on her own and when it came time to put together a letter of intent, she established a relationship with a local realtor to help with that process.
·    During the process of searching for a site, Mrs. Patrick needed more detailed information about how the project would be developed and was put in touch with Modular Commercial Solutions, Inc. (MCSI) out of North Carolina to assist with information such as “footprints”, engineering information, etc. by the Java Jo’z Corporate office.
·    After several months and several different attempts to reach a suitable agreement with several landlords, the Patricks were able to secure a signed letter of intent with the landlord, Midlothian Associates, LP, for the site at the Midlothian Crossing Shopping Center.