Franchises that teach skills to youngsters are growing

Franchise concepts that teach skills to children seems to be a recipe for success here on Long Island.

Whether they focus on education, like The Learning Experience, Mathnasium and Kumon, or athletic activities like Soccer Stars, Kidokinetics and Goldfish Swim School, franchises that focus on youngsters are growing.

One skills franchise coming to Long Island next year is Young Chefs Academy, which aims to teach cooking chops to kids ages 4 through 18. Franchisee Sally Barrera is bringing the concept to Garden City, where a Young Chefs Academy location is being built in a 1,615-square-foot space in Stewart Plaza at 650 Stewart Ave.

Barrera owned a PR and marketing firm in Manhattan for eight years before becoming a Young Chefs Academy franchisee. After Garden City, she plans to open at least one more location in Nassau County and possibly a third soon.

SALLY BARRERA: ‘You want to provide them with life skills that they can use in the future.’ Photo by Judy Walker

A mom of three young children who enjoy helping her in the kitchen, Barrera was looking for cooking classes for her 4-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son but couldn’t find anything suitable.

“I love teaching my own children about cooking and I wanted them to learn more than just the basics,” Barrera said. “I wanted them to have a classroom culinary experience so I started looking and I couldn’t find anything that I felt was more than just a workshop. That’s how I started looking into Young Chefs Academy. It’s a classroom-safe environment where children can learn and really hone their skills.”

The Young Chefs Academy brand was first established in 2004 by its founder and CEO Julie Burleson. The company has 34 locations nationwide. The total investment to open a Young Chefs Academy franchise ranges from $140,400 to $196,000, according to Shelly Young, YCA’s vice president of marketing, however Barrera says the all-in cost can be closer to double that here.

Young says Long Island is an ideal place for the kids cooking concept.

“We know that Long Island families take pride in providing valuable opportunities for their children that will carry with them throughout a lifetime,” Young said.  “Not only do students learn valuable cooking skills in a warm and welcoming environment, our proprietary curriculum is centered on expanding the experience to empower self-confidence and independence, instill valuable learning moments for each class and event, and open up a world of discovery and creativity.”

The popularity of TV cooking shows and celebrity chefs have heated up interest in Young Chefs Academy and some of its students have been featured on a few of those productions.

“We are regularly contacted by national culinary competition networks to share audition schedules and information with our students and parents,” Young said. “We have had several students go on as contestants on Food Network’s “Kids Baking Championship” and “Chopped Junior,” as well as Fox’s “MasterChef Junior.”

Students at Young Chefs Academy getting some hands-on experience. Courtesy of Young Chefs Academy

Young Chefs Academy offers monthly memberships where kids can take weekly 90-minute classes and the schools also offer individual classes for about $50 a session. The company also offers birthday parties, culinary camps and field trips.

Young says YCA’s core market is kids between the ages of 7 and 14, but they also have adult and family classes.

Though she hasn’t yet started marketing, Barrera said the Young Chefs Academy slated to open in Garden City next year already has a waiting list of about 100 kids.

Franchise coach and advisor Tom Scarda, principal of The Franchise Academy, says franchises geared towards children are usually a good investment.

“It’s recession resistant,” Scarda said. “If you’ve got kids, you’re going to spend money. In general, if you have the money, you’re going to try and get your kid to be the best at whatever they’re interested in.”

Besides having an interest in cooking, Barrera’s son Royce attends The Coder School in Roslyn, another growing franchise concept that teaches computer coding skills to children.

Noreen Kazi and her sister-in-law Nisha Bhalla are the area franchisees for The Coder School, and they operate four locations on Long Island, one in Queens and another in New Jersey.

Starting with one location in Syosset in 2017, Kazi said she saw a need for The Coder School concept.

“We think of Long Island as a hub for education, but we felt computer science and technology was lacking in school curriculums,” she said. “There’s so much value in understanding technology and understanding what’s happening behind the scenes.”

NOREEN KAZI and NISHA BHALLA: Franchisees of The Coder School already have six locations and are planning to open more. Courtesy of The Coder School

Kazi said not every kid likes swimming, ballet, or basketball, so there must be different options.

“We do provide a space for those kids. We want to cultivate what they’re interested in,” Kazi says. “Technology is always changing, and children need to be able to keep up. Coding helps strengthen problem-solving skills.”

Founded by Hansel Lynn in 2014, The Coder School now has 60 locations and Lynn expects to have 70 by the end of next year. The initial investment to open a Coder School ranges from about $65,000 to $150,000 depending on size and location.

So far, the franchise has been successful for Kazi and Bhalla, who are planning to open more locations on Long Island and in Westchester County next year.

Lynn says The Coder School offers monthly memberships that range from $249 to $299, depending on location, for its weekly Code Coaching service. He said that Long Island is an ideal region for the concept.

“We look for areas where parents understand the importance of kids’ education and the desire to give their kids that extra leg up from others,” Lynn said. “In our competitive world, technology is only going to be more prevalent in all industries, so it’s important our kids have that extra boost to compete even better. With the suburban density and the large number of affluent and knowledgeable parents, Long Island is a great fit.”

Kids getting coached on computer programming languages. Courtesy of The Coder School

Coming out of the COVID pandemic, Barrera says both parents and children missed out on a lot, and concepts like Young Chefs Academy and The Coder School help remedy that.

“You want your children to be independent, you want to provide them with life skills that they can use in the future,” she said. “Anything that teaches them self-confidence, creativity, independence, because they can use all those skills when they grow up.”

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