Rich Duprey of The Motley Fool reports that the third largest fast-food chain Wendy’s (NASDAQ: WEN ) wants to strip one of its biggest restaurant operators of its franchise agreement for failing to upgrade its restaurants and install a point-of-sale system. While it could result in the franchisee being forced to close or sell its restaurants, it also brings […]
Franchisee Sues for Lack of Fair Dealing, Marriott Settles
BlueMauMau reports that It seems that not all is clean and good at Marriott. CNBC explores the Marriott Empire in its hour-long “Behind the Closed Doors of Marriott.” In the three minute video clip* below, one large franchise owner explains his lawsuit regarding legal traps, bad faith, fraud, breach of contract and hidden rebates to […]
Equity Extraction Schemes Live On in Franchising
The equity extraction scheme that was exposed by 7-11 Employee Kurt McCord brings back painful memories for me. The scheme is eerily similar to what was perpetrated against Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees from 1998 thru 2008. In that period it is estimated that Dunkin’ Brands extracted over $100 million dollars of franchisee equity from hundreds of […]
Franchise Owners Beware: Despite The Myths, Franchises Can Fail
Bruce Kennedy, Benzinga Staff Writer reports that the recent Chapter 11 filings of two national restaurant chains, Sbarro and Quiznos, are drawing new focus on the opportunities and challenges faced by franchises. U.S. Census Bureau data from 2007 showed franchise businesses employed over 58 million U.S. residents, while bringing in revenues, sales, shipments or receipts of over $7.6 billion. And […]
Quiznos Goes Bankrupt My Three Observations and One Possible Salvation
Quiznos filed for bankruptcy late last week. Interesting enough the Quiznos franchise chains troubles at a time when similar sandwich franchises like Subway and others seem to be thriving. Serious flaws and seemingly fraudulent practices in the Quiznos’ business model led to the company’s demise. Here are my basic three observations for the chains seemingly […]
7-ELEVEN Aggressively Seizes Franchisee Equity
Unhappyfranchisee.com has been covering the aggressive tactics of 7-11 Corporation in seizing the assets of its franchisees. The story of the Patels from Riverside, California who lost their store after 19 years of operation, stands out, mostly because of the reaction from the Riverside Community in protesting 7-11 seizure of the Patels 7-11 franchise. SIGN […]
Maine Restaurant Association & Maine Association of Realtors Oppose Fair Franchising in Maine
The Maine Restaurant Association has vehemently come out against the Maine Small Business Investment Protection Act (LD 1458), the Maine Association of Realtors is also opposing the bill. Both the Maine Restaurant Association and the Maine Association of Realtors have taken the same position as the International Franchise Association (IFA), McDonalds, and Marriott Hotels against […]
The IFA is Not Pulling Punches
Yesterday the IFA sent a letter to its members alerting them to the pending doom, and that the sky will fall in Maine if the Labor Commerce and Economic Development Committee votes “ought to pass” on the “5 Principles” of the Maine Small Business Investment Act. They have organized a Town Hall Telephone Call for […]
For Whom the Legislation Bell Tolls
Janet Sparks writes at Blue MauMau …for the past few years there have been new efforts on the part of franchisees and their associations to pass fair franchising laws in various states. Executive director Jim Coen of the Maine Franchise Owners Association states, “There are many fine businesspeople who have been terribly harmed by predatory […]
Failed Quiznos Franchisees Drag Maine Economy Down
Portland – As Maine Quiznos franchisees fail miserably under a broken business model, some are questioning what detriment there will be to their state’s economy. Analyzing the sub sandwich chain’s past franchise disclosure documents shows there was approximately $5.4 million in citizen economic loss. The human toll is even larger. Quiznos franchisees and their families have been and will be devastated financially and personally for the remainder of their lives. While the […]