Alan Jiménez and his cousin Ruben Jiménez are from Nochistlan in Mexico and it gave Alan hope as he watched his cousin turn a popsicle, or paleta, business into La Michoacana Plus, a brand with more than 70 franchises across the U.S. and locations as far as Dubai and Guatemala. So after Ruben launched Con Azucar Cafe in San Jose, California, in 2022, Alan was eager to get involved in the Mexican artisanal coffee and pastry shop.

In the summer of 2024, Alan Jiménez signed a lease to open Con Azucar Cafe’s first Sacramento location, and the soft is Jan. 27, 2025. The Mexican coffee and pastry cafe also has franchises in Fresno, Bakersfield in California, as well as one in Omaha. He spoke with ICSC Small Business Center contributing editor Rebecca Meiser about his journey opening a brick-and-mortar franchise location.

What made you choose franchising over starting your own business?

[Franchising offers] a lot of perks for new small business owners, especially when you’re still learning to own a business. With a franchise, you have structure, set guidance and the benefit of having team members who have done this multiple times. You’re coming in with a team and a proven concept. I’m able to request and change and adopt some things that are important to me like the layout of the store, but they’ve given me the liberty of putting a little flavor of myself and the community into the place. Obviously, I need to keep the core concept. Sometimes that’s a negative side of a franchise: Everything has to be very, very straightforward and standard [and] you can’t go beyond their boundaries. But this has been a great experience for me.

How did you find your Downtown Sacramento location, which previously was a Starbucks?

I was looking for a space for about six months. I was a couple months into negotiations with [one landlord] and it just didn’t go as planned. I felt like there was some dishonesty going, terms that were changing, and it was a frustrating process where I just didn’t feel comfortable pursuing it anymore. As much as I loved the space and where it was located, if there were already issues now, there would be more in the future. Sometimes you have to swallow your pride and realize that a space was not meant to be.

And then out of nowhere, Starbucks closed in May. As soon as we noticed, it was like: Oh these other situations didn’t go through for a reason. This is the spot for us. In terms of foot traffic and car traffic, that’s the No. 1 space in Sacramento. Everyone goes to the Golden 1 Center, [home of the NBA’s Kings]: families and workers. We’re right next to the Capitol. too. State employees go and get lunch and coffee in this area. And the [MLB’s Athletics] are coming down to Sacramento to play [temporarily], starting in March.

A video rendering of the location is above, provided along with the photos at top by Alan Jiménez

How did you evaluate the market and location, especially considering that the most famous coffee chain had just closed in that location? Were you concerned about launching a coffee concept in that same space?

Not at all. I did my research. One big topic in the downtown area is always homelessness. We’re considering hiring private security for the first couple months, and the other businesses around us — the bars, the restaurant — [are] doing well, even with the homeless situation. And I wouldn’t say we’re completely unknown. Con Azucar has a large social media following, particularly Instagram, where we have over 320,000 followers. When I visited the San Jose store, I met people who were driving from L.A. to visit. They were driving hours to go try these big conchas that were trending on TikTok, so there’s buzz around us. Also, there’s a large number of Hispanic residents in Sacramento who I think are eager to support a Mexican cafe. We’re really going to lean into sharing our culture, especially during Hispanic Heritage Month.

Based on your not-so-great experiences, how can you tell if you are working with a good landlord?

I had a broker who helped me through this whole entire process. I definitely suggest hiring a broker. They’ve worked tons of lease agreements and have worked with lots of people in the industry. They have insights that could really make or break your business. But you can tell right away from an interaction from a landlord if it’s going to be a good match. If someone take two weeks to respond to a simple request or if they promise to send something quickly [and] then they don’t, it’s not promising. At that point, you’re losing time and money. You can tell your time has not really been valued.

Do you have a good feeling with the landlord that you’re working with now?

He was very responsive. He was on top of everything and very transparent. Ultimately, it created a trust system. I don’t want surprises two months down the road saying “We need this from you to open” when you could have told me months ago. I feel lucky, too, because a lot of other franchises were looking at this space. My landlord just bought that building a couple months ago. As he was going through escrow, we sent our letter of intent. We were serious about the location. He saw how hungry we were. He definitely took a chance with a new concept. I greatly appreciate him. It made me even more sure that this is the location I want, and this is who I want to be working with.

Did the franchiser help with leasing negotiations, or did you handle that yourself?

With the lease itself, normally they don’t help, but I needed a cosigner, being a new business with no history. I was able to get some help to lock down the space.

This is the one of the biggest locations Con Azucar Cafe has, at more than 3,150 square feet compared with the typical 710 to 2,000 square feet. Are you worried?

I understood that the rent where we are is higher than in some other areas, but after looking at the books and looking at our projections, the concern is not: Are we going to survive? I have a strong belief in myself, the ownership group and the concept. Seeing the stuff we’ve been posting on social media already about our opening and watching hundreds of people commenting on it puts me at ease.