Making the choice to franchise a business isn’t always an easy one. For Jay and Amy Muxworthy, the owners of Flaming Amy’s Burrito Barn and Flaming Amy’s Bowl, the decision came after careful consideration.

“We developed the Bowl concept with the intent to duplicate it,” Jay Muxworthy said. “The economy tanked shortly after we opened the Bowl, so it has taken us longer to expand than we anticipated.”

The Muxworthys first opened Flaming Amy’s Bowl on Shipyard Boulevard in 2008. According to the website, the concept was “to provide hot, fast, cheap and easy food in a fun and casual environment.”

The restaurant opened eight years after the couple had been successfully running its original concept, the Burrito Barn on Oleander Drive.

The Bowl’s concept lets customers choose from a variety of proteins and produce for their dishes and then watch as it’s cooked in front of them.

The Muxworthys announced at the beginning of the year their intent to start franchising the Bowl concept.

A Bigger Bowl Inc., the franchising unit the Muxworthys are using, includes Jay Muxworthy’s brother Scott Muxworthy serving as director of brand management as well as his franchise developer Eddy Solis as franchise sales director. He has also invited two longtime employees, Amanda Limbaugh and L.J. Latimer, to serve as new franchise coordinator and franchise training director.

“Franchising takes some of the financial risk off our shoulders,” Jay Muxworthy said.

The Muxworthys’ goal is to expand the Bowl with a mixture of franchise and corporate locations.

“We would love to gradually expand the Bowl concept throughout North Carolina and eventually move on to other states,” Jay Muxworthy said.

Ideally, they’d like to see a store in one of the local areas first, such as in Porters Neck or Leland.

The couple has a friend interested in opening a store in Raleigh, and the Muxworthys would like to eventually open new stores in other parts of North Carolina such as the Triangle area, Charlotte, Asheville and Greenville.

“It’s one of our babies, so we really want to be involved with helping people to get it going,” Amy Muxworthy said. “We want to give each business the attention it needs to succeed.”

Jay Muxworthy hopes the opening of a second corporate Bowl location will help the franchising side of things get started.

While the Muxworthys are ready to start franchising, they’re learning the process takes time. “Having only one Bowl location makes the sale of franchise locations more difficult,” Jay Muxworthy said.

“By opening a second location, we will be able to show prospective franchisees more financials and also prove that we are serious about the company’s growth.”

Once the couple decided to pursue the opening of a second corporate Bowl location, it was time to start scouting for locations.

“We actually sort of stumbled upon the new Bowl location in the North Chase area of Wilmington,” Jay Muxworthy said. “We had just decided we needed to open a second location, and our franchise sales director, Eddy Solis, suggested we look in that area. We took a drive after our meeting and found the spot.”

A former restaurant occupied the space, which means a significant savings when it comes time to
repurposing the location.

Jay Muxworthy said they don’t have plans to franchise the Burrito Barn.

“It is our baby, and we will keep that location running as long as the people keep coming,” he said.
At some point the Muxworthys would like to expand that concept as well, but it will probably be a smaller location, with a slightly more limited menu, they said.

“The Burrito Barn is a monster to operate, so any future locations will be owned and operated by us,” Jay Muxworthy said.

The Muxworthys first opened Flaming Amy’s Burrito Barn in 2000, when they were fresh to the area.

“Jay was a general manager at a similar concept in Atlanta and worked with a guy who had been planning to move to Asheville,” Amy Muxworthy said. “We asked if he and his girlfriend would consider moving to Wilmington, and they said ‘Yeah, all right.’ I look back on it now and am amazed how it all worked out.”

Jay Muxworthy said he doesn’t have any other projects in the works as of now, but he does have some ideas.

“I have a couple other restaurant concepts brewing as well,” Jay Muxworthy said. “They are on the back burner while we work to expand the Bowl concept, but at some point I will do something new.”
According to the restaurant’s website, the Muxworthys “believe a big part of their success is due to
giving back to the community that supports them.”

Some of the organizations they’ve worked with include the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, Adopt an Angel, Journey4ACure, Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter, as well as local schools and family organizations.

Another change is the choice to eliminate the restaurant’s Operation Salsa Drop program and replace it with “Local Love.”

A portion of the sales from each jar of the Local Love Salsa will go to benefit six different rotating local charities that work to eliminate hunger issues in the local community. One charity they plan to include is the local nonprofit Nourish NC, where Amy Muxworthy volunteers as a board member and helps to pack and distribute food packs to area children in need.

“As I became more involved with Nourish NC, the hunger problem became more and more apparent,” she said. “You don’t realize how much of a need is right here in Wilmington until you experience it firsthand.”

- Jessica Maurer contributed to this article.