Can Franchising Bring a Forgotten Favourite Back From the Dead?

By Sean Goldsmith

Scooters Pizza is back with ten reported outlets and more than 1,200 franchise enquiries. Can yesterday's success help today's franchisees make money?

There are easier ways to enter the pizza business than reviving a brand that disappeared a decade ago. You could open a new restaurant, choose a name and start building a following without having to explain what happened to the previous business.

Juan Engelbrecht has taken the opposite approach. He secured the Scooters Pizza trademarks and reopened the brand in Melville, Johannesburg, in October 2025. By the end of August 2026, the revived chain had reached ten outlets across Gauteng, Limpopo and the Western Cape, with a stated target of 20 by the end of November.

It is an unusual franchise proposition. Engelbrecht is selling a name many South Africans remember, but he is also asking investors to back a business that must establish a new operating record.

That raises a worthwhile question. Can an old franchise brand be more valuable than a new one, even when its previous network no longer exists?

The Name Survived the Restaurants

Scooters was founded in 2000 and became known for its 39-minute pizza delivery promise. The chain had grown to more than 100 locations by 2010.

Its disappearance followed a change in direction at Taste Holdings, which signed an agreement to develop Domino's Pizza in southern Africa in 2014. Scooters and St Elmo's outlets were subsequently converted, and the Scooters name faded from the market.

Engelbrecht was involved with the original business as a Western Cape master franchisee in the early 2000s. He later acquired the trademarks independently and set about rebuilding the chain.

That history gives the new business an advantage that would be expensive for an unknown start-up to acquire. People already recognise the name. Some remember ordering its pizzas, and others remember the delivery guarantee.

Recognition, however, is not the same as current customer demand.

Nostalgia Won't Pay the Rent

A returning customer may place an order because they remember Scooters from years ago. Whether they order again depends on the food, price, delivery time and service they receive today.

The same principle applies to franchise recruitment. A familiar brand may attract enquiries, but an investor still needs evidence that a store can generate enough sales to cover ingredients, wages, rent, delivery and royalties.

Scooters reported more than 1,200 franchise enquiries following its relaunch. That is a striking number, although enquiries should not be confused with signed agreements, funded stores or profitable operators.

The revived business has also retained its 39-minute delivery promise, supported by live tracking and fleet-management technology.

Delivery guarantees are attractive marketing tools, but they require disciplined operations. Drivers must be available, kitchens must handle busy periods and stores need delivery territories that make the promise achievable.

A franchisee who consistently misses the target risks disappointing customers. One who adds excessive staffing or delivery capacity to meet it may damage margins.

A Different Network Needs Different Skills

Engelbrecht has brought experienced operators into the expansion effort. Former Nando's franchisee Vernon Marais has taken a master franchise role covering the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, bringing restaurant experience and access to delivery infrastructure.

That matters because the revived Scooters is building a network in a market where delivery apps, customer expectations and operating costs have changed considerably since the original chain's heyday.

The head office must now establish reliable suppliers, training, site approval, food quality and field support. Franchisees need evidence from current stores rather than financial projections based on a business that existed fifteen years ago.

The target of 20 outlets by November is ambitious. Reaching it would demonstrate an ability to open restaurants quickly, but the more useful test will be whether those stores maintain sales and service standards after the initial excitement has passed.

The Value Is in What Happens Next

Scooters has an established identity, a recognisable promise and a founder of the revival who knows the original franchise business.

Those are genuine advantages. They may reduce the cost of introducing the name to customers and help attract potential operators.

But the trademarks alone cannot recreate the old network's economics. Each new franchise must earn its place in a crowded market, and the franchisor must build the support organisation that keeps those outlets operating.

A revived brand can save time in marketing. It cannot skip the work of building a dependable franchise business.

What We Can Learn From This

Anyone considering the revival of a discontinued franchise should separate the value of brand recognition from the performance of the proposed business model. Before selling franchises, they should test current unit economics, delivery costs, customer retention and the support needed for new operators. Expansion targets should be measured against the number of stores trading successfully, rather than enquiries or openings alone. Scooters' next year will help establish whether an established name can give a new franchise network a durable commercial advantage.

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