Adult daycare, memory care center franchisor Town Square continues growth

SH Town Square Franchising, Inc., (Town Square), which fills a nationwide elder care market gap for adult daycare and memory care centers, continues its growth, with new locations opening, leases signed and additional franchise owners coming on board. The four-year-old organization also is expanding its leadership team with the addition of a new position, Vice President of Marketing & Business Development.

With a just-opened University Parkway (Bradenton, FL) Town Square; the lease signed for a Town Square in the Greater Charlotte area (Fort Mill, SC); and new owners of a Bergen County, NJ, Town Square ramping up, Town Square Franchising improves the momentum it established in 2022.

“We’ve been on a roll since June of 2021,” says Pete Spillum, VP of Operations & Franchising for Town Square. “In addition to the seven centers up and running, we have 15 other committed locations. Like families and caregivers everywhere, franchise owners are recognizing incredible national demand for quality daycare and resource centers for those with dementia. We are delighted to serve more and more seniors while also giving caregivers a respite from 24/7 care.”

Bradenton Town Square has strong start

Spillum notes that Town Square University Parkway, on the border of Bradenton and Sarasota, opened its doors March 6. More than 450 people attended the Open House to see the innovative adult day facility offering activities and enabling reminiscence and socialization. Town Square University Parkway franchise owners John and Catherine McDermott have plans to open two more Town Square centers in the coming years to serve the Manatee County area, north of this first location.

“We are excited to see the team at University Parkway open its doors,” Spillum says. “With John and Catherine’s experience (she is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner; his experience is in construction and operations), they will thrive and become a model Town Square for the many other Florida locations bound to open in the coming years.”

Geriatric psychiatry expertise drives Town Square near Charlotte

Likewise, franchisees Kelli and Rob Gagne recently signed a lease for their Fort Mill, SC, Town Square, due to open in early 2024 (at 368 Fort Mill Parkway, Suite 106, Fort Mill), serving the Charlotte, NC, area. Kelli is a psychiatric mental-health nurse practitioner with her own geriatric psychiatry practice and Rob served in the U.S. Navy before a long career as a director of facilities overseeing the campus of a state university, so they are well-suited to provide senior care in an area that lacks adequate adult day care and memory care facilities. They too plan to open additional locations in the Charlotte market.

“Every day we see the growing need for quality dementia care in our area beyond traditional assisted living and home care models,” says Kelli Gagne. “Town Square and its innovation in adult day care fits the needs within our community, providing medical care, socialization and support for those living with dementia – all in an engaging environment.”

Town Square aligns with existing businesses

 

Some of the latest Town Square owners have just completed New Owner Training and will be opening in Bergen County, NJ, in 2024. Owners Mike Tucci and Stacey Lopis and business partner John Lopis are excited that Town Square will offer families affordable and engaging memory care, as well as rewarding and consistent work for their caregiving staff, including opportunities for career advancement.

 

Tucci began his career as a technology consultant, eventually spending 20 years at UBS AG focused on employee engagement and development, and organizational change. Upon retiring in 2021, he began full-time at Visiting Angels of Fort Lee. Tucci will use his expertise to lead the building, growing and scaling of Town Square.

 

John Lopis, a longtime attorney, in 2001 began representing franchisors, franchisees and distributors, which led him to become CEO and General Counsel of a franchisor as well as a franchisee. He eventually worked in the Home Health and Home Care sector, including as a franchise and operations consultant to Visiting Angels. Stacey Lopis’ career in finance took her through Wall Street firms including Cantor Fitzgerald and Goldman Sachs. While raising a family she later worked part-time helping finance startups and boutique recruiting firms. In 2015 she purchased the Visiting Angels of Fort Lee with Tucci and has been its Director ever since.

 

“As owners of a home care agency, we saw Town Square as a natural fit to expand our portfolio and help our clientele,” says Tucci. “This aligns perfectly with our existing business and experience, and serves a rapidly growing need in Bergen County and beyond.”

 

Growth drives leadership team expansion

 

As its first Vice President of Marketing & Business Development, Sarasota-based Lori McCauley brings 25 years sales & operations experience, with a decade in healthcare and 15 years in franchise development.

 

“I know from experience there is nothing quite like Town Square in the healthcare marketplace,” McCauley says. “The brand is exciting and the team passionate, and our centers, as we call them, benefit not only the member, but also caregivers who need respite support. Our goal when we partner with franchise owners is for Town Square to be the “Center of Excellence” in adult day dementia care. From every activity to the centers’ décor, we’ve built it all with strategic, meaningful purpose.”

Town Square locations now open include Sarasota, FL (in addition to Bradenton/University Parkway); Perry Hall, MD; Jersey Shore (Brunswick), NJ; Princeton, NJ; Sandy Springs, GA; and (NW) Austin, TX. As the population shifts, the 50s and 60s theme of Town Square facilities will roll through subsequent decades.

Town Square provides a safe, comforting and immersive environment where members – as Town Square day guests are called – spend the day while caretakers are at work, running errands or taking a break from daily routines. Members take part in a range of engaging activities facilitated by highly qualified Program Assistants. Town Square is the first adult day center model grounded in reminiscence therapy, specifically for individuals with Alzheimer’s or related dementias. A product of the renowned George G. Glenner Centers, Town Square’s proprietary programming evokes a time when seniors were teens or young adults. Town Square also created proprietary software exclusive to its franchise owners. About franchising with Town Square: email Pete Spillum, 410.847.2150.