Pete Suter popped his first batch of Shannon Theatre popcorn when he was 18. That was in the spring of 1990. He said that he knew almost immediately that someday he’d own the theatre, which he now owns.

What he didn’t know is that he would also eventually create a gourmet popcorn company based upon that theatre popcorn.

Bluffton residents know it as Shirley’s Gourmet Popcorn Co. Pete and his wife, Kim, launched the popcorn company in August 2009. What started with that first bag of popcorn for Suter has turned into popping from seven to 10 tons of popcorn each year between Shannon Theatre and Shirley’s.

This summer the couple took another business leap. They decided to franchise Shirley’s. That means that you might someday walk into a mall anywhere in the U.S. and see Shirley’s Gourmet Popcorn for sale.

So, while most Bluffton residents thought that this summer’s renovation of Shirley’s was a simple remodeling, it was in fact, “a complete remodeling to more accurately reflect our brand and our product,” said Suter.

Suter will provide an overview of what it means to franchise a business during the 7:30 a.m., Friday, Oct. 12, Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce breakfast in the town hall.

As Shirley’s franchises open, those locations will take on the appearance of the downtown Bluffton store.

To provide franchise direction, Pete and Kim worked with iFranchise Group who provided a summer’s worth of consultation. Dave Hood, of iFranchise, is a former CEO of Auntie Annie’s, a franchise that creates pretzels in malls.

“We were consulted in strategic planning, operations, sales training and marketing,” said Suter. Perhaps the biggest surprise in the process was the creation of a product operations manual. “It’s in excess of 400 pages,” he said. “It walks a potential franchise holder through every step of the business.”

As a result of the consultations, Shirley’s dropped all non-consumable retail products. “Now all we do is popcorn,” said Suter. Adding, “One of the important parts of the Shirley model is the ability to customize popcorn flavors. It is really important in our model to maintain quality in our product.”

With a remodeled downstairs Shirley’s, Pete and Kim transformed the second floor of the business into the main training space for people wanting to obtain a franchise.

Talking about the popcorn created in Shirley’s, Suter said, “Most of our sales are for gifts. It’s something to say ‘thank you,’ it’s conveying excitement. It’s not just popcorn. It’s happiness.” That is part of the message the franchise hopes to deliver to customers.

The creation and success of Shirley’s is helped by Suter’s business background. He is an accounting and business graduate from Bluffton University, holds a master’s of management from Bluffton University and a doctorate in marketing from Anderson University.