Press Release: Suburban Lodges of America, Inc.
October 9, 2001
ATLANTA, GA -- Suburban Lodges of America, Inc. (Nasdaq:SLAM), owner/franchisor of the Suburban Lodge and GuestHouse
International hotel brands and operator of 65 Company-owned Suburban Lodge hotels, yesterday announced its pipeline
of hotels open and under development at September 30, 2001.
As previously announced during the third quarter, new franchised Suburban Lodge hotels were opened in Destin, Florida,
Austin, Texas and Chesapeake, Virginia. At September 30, 2001, a total of 126 Suburban Lodge hotels were operating
in 20 states. Additionally, new GuestHouse International franchised hotels opened in Leeds, Alabama, Garden Grove,
California and Melbourne, Florida. Six GuestHouse International hotels were dropped from the system and, at September
30, 2001, a total of 71 GuestHouse International hotels were operating in 21 states.
In total, the Company's pipeline of hotels open or under development declined from 333 at June 30, 2001, to 305
at September 30, 2001.
``This is the first quarter since we have been publishing this information in which the total pipeline declined,''
stated David Krischer, Chief Executive Officer. ``The decline, while a disappointment, was not unexpected. By the
end of June, we recognized that in the current economic environment there are reduced opportunities to grow our
franchised brands. As a result, in the first week of July, we cut our franchise sales team in half, a move that
reduces our corporate cash outlay by about $1,000,000 per year.''
The status of the Company's brands was as follows at September 30,
2001:
Suburban GuestHouse TOTAL
Lodge International
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Hotels Open 126 71 197
Hotels Under 1 4 5
Construction or Conversion
Executed Franchise 14 11 25
Agreements (not under
construction or conversion)
Approved Applications 32 46 78
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Total Hotels Open 173 132 305
or in Development
Suburban Lodges of America, Inc. owns, franchises and manages Suburban Lodge hotels, the nation's largest chain
of economy extended stay hotels, and franchises GuestHouse International hotels, the mid-market nightly stay hotel
chain with a franchisee-friendly franchise agreement.
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Contact:
Suburban Lodges of America, Inc.
Paul A. Criscillis, Jr., 770/799-5000