The Cereal Bowl, the quirky cafe that offers customers the chance to mix dozens of different breakfast cereals and toppings, isn't out of business. But if you're hankering for Captain Crunch with Gummi Bears you'll have to travel.

The Cereal Bowl opened its first franchise in Newark, Del., last October. A second one near Rutgers University in New Jersey is slated to open next month, and a Washington, D.C., location is taking over a recently shuttered Starbucks.

Locally, things haven't gone so well.

The three entrepreneurs behind The Cereal Bowl shut their flagship store at 1560 S. Dixie Highway near the University of Miami for renovations in October and never reopened after butting heads with the landlord over the terms of a new long-term lease.

Then they were forced to abandon plans for a new location on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables after six months of permitting led to a dead end.

That has left the trio behind The Cereal Bowl in an tricky spot: rolling out their franchise globally without having a company-owned store.

The Miami Herald followed the three men behind the enterprise -- twin brothers Ken and Josh Rader and their childhood friend Michael Glassman, all 28 years old -- for a full year during 2005-06 as they launched the concept.

Three years later, they have emerged as industry leaders in the cereal bar niche, along with Arizona-based Cereality.

On a recent weekday, huddled around a boardroom table at their Coral Gables marketing firm, the three men studied art for the new stores as they mulled their biggest leap yet: the Middle East.

Global Brands of Doha, Qatar, bought the rights to open three stores in that oil-rich nation, with the option of opening 12 more in Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The company also has the right of first refusal on a Cereal Bowl in London.

``We are totally confident that Global Brands will be able to re-create `The Cereal Bowl' experience throughout Qatar and the Middle East,'' Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Thani, the president and chief executive of Global Brands said in release. ``We are proud of our partners and the brands we represent.''

Global Brands also holds the franchise rights to Ruby Tuesday restaurants and exotic drink maker D'Lush.

Qatar is a long way from Kendall, where Glassman and the Raders grew up. And the Middle East was never part of their plans. Indeed, when they first received the e-mail from Global Brands they almost didn't respond, thinking the locations too far-flung and unfeasible. But as they looked into Qatar, they recognized the opportunity.

GROWING REGION

The region promises growth, even amid the global economic slump, and Nestlé and other food conglomerates have a strong presence in the region, easing concerns about supplying the stores. While they may not be able to match their U.S. concoctions brand-for-brand, they will be able to create the same ``flavor profiles,'' said Glassman, the company's chief operating officer.

The Raders are traveling to Qatar next month and hope to see the first store open early next year.

The Miami store won a following among college students and children by giving them a chance to mix and match cereals with a dizzying array of toppings, from blueberries to cookie dough -- all in an environment that offered strong coffee, plush couches and plasma TVs pumping out cartoons.

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