May 8th, 2008
(FranchisePick.Com)
Related articles: Curves For Women Franchise: 20% of Curves Franchises Closed in MA, HAS CURVES FOR WOMEN ABANDONED ITS FRANCHISE OWNERS?, Is Curves for Women a Good Franchise Investment?
Women’s 30 Minute fitness franchises, Curves included, get a fair share of scrutiny (and abuse) on FranchisePick.com.
On the lively comment thread on Is Curves for Women a Good Franchise Investment? Curves franchise owner and FranchisePick.Com commenter mcc stood up for Curves for Women as a club and as a franchise investment [bold emphasis added]:
• My family and I own 2 Curves. We’ve been open for 6 years. We continue to be profitable. We work at it. We market. We advertise. We can’t always ‘count’ how many members come from a newspaper ad or a mailing. All consumers are bombarded with advertising to the point that they don’t know what they are seeing or when they see it. I judge the effectiveness of our marketing efforts by the bottom line. For instance, when we stopped doing Pennysaver covers, our appointments slowed. Even though previously members were not citing Pennysaver as the reason they came in.
• Regarding overweight women owning Curves or being at Curves: One of our very best staff members was almost 300 pounds. She was the kindest, most caring person you could ever meet. She had gained her weight during a 5 year period when she was desperately trying to have a baby. She had more compassion for the members than anyone. She had a 100% ’sales’ record. The members absolutely adored her — even the skinny members loved her (imagine that!)
• Curves is a place where you can get fit and get healthy. One of my members recently had a heart attack. Her doctor asked her what kind of exercise she had been doing. She told him she had been exercising at Curves for 5 years — 3 times a week — faithfully. He told her that CURVES saved her life. She was surprised because even she thought 3 times a week was no big deal. Her doctor advised her that it was enough to strengthen her heart muscle to the point that her heart suffered no damage from the heart attack. He told her not to quit. I do not know this doctor. I’ve never met him. He’s not trying to get me business — he just wants his patient to stay healthy.
• We have countless stories of women who have controlled their diabetes, controlled their blood pressure, decreased their arthritis pain, and improved their self esteem and mood — and they ONLY exercise 3 times a week at Curves. So I take offense to the comments by some on this board that “Curves isn’t really fitness” and “Curves is only pushing products on people”.
• Are we a social club? Yes — for some. Some women are motivated to come to Curves on a regular basis because of the social atmosphere. Women are social creatures … don’t be surprised to learn that they enjoy social activities where they can also maintain their health & fitness.
• The beauty of Curves is STILL the fact that busy women can drop in anytime to workout for 30 minutes. They don’t have to commit to a class time. I don’t know about the women where you live, but most of the women I know do not have the leisure time to commit to a 1 hour class, 3 times a week on a regular basis. Most of our members are running in to Curves then running home to take care of the kids, grandkids, dogs, husband, parents, shopping, laundry, cooking, etc. etc. etc. For that reason, Curves is STILL the answer to: “How am I supposed to stay healthy?”
• Curves diet is not a diet as much as a better way to eat: HEALTHY. It’s not a fad. It’s not unreasonable. It’s hard — because changing bad habits is hard. Giving up foods you love is hard. But the nutritional advice in Curves diet is based on sound science. We always advise our diet classes to take the Curves Member Guide to their doctors to show him/her what they are participating in. The doctors are always very pleased with what their patients are doing at Curves.
• One of the things that happened with Curves is that lots of people saw it as a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. Some of those people became Curves owners and they were surprised that you have to actually work your business. Others bought in to copy-cat systems such as Slender Lady & Contours. They all sold themselves as: “We are just like Curves - but better!”
• In closing: Curves is STILL the best thing that ever happened to women. BUSY women can find time to get at LEAST 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week when it’s convenient for them. The exercise is both cardio & strength training. That’s the heart of the program. On top of that, IF they choose, they can enjoy the social, friendly, encouraging, motivating atmosphere provided by Curves. And IF they choose they can try our diet. And IF they want to eat a protein bar called Curves, or cereal called Curves or popcorn called Curves, all sold by General Mills, they can. All of those things are extras. They don’t have to buy our vitamins or shakes.
Curves is still #1 and I don’t doubt that fitness snobs around the world will continue to try to drag it down. Were it not for Curves, millions of women in this world would not be doing any strength training. And most women who aren’t doing Curves, are simply walking on a treadmill in front of a televsion. Talk about boring!
Thanks, mcc, for sharing your opinion
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By sean -- 2 comments
May 7th, 2008
(FranchisePick.Com) If you’re trying to discern whether a given franchise company is trustworthy, you might be tempted to interprete a “Fair Franchising Award,” a membership seal of a franchise association, a top ranking in a franchise list, or “approval” by the SBA franchise registry as an indication of trustworthiness.
Don’t.
History ain’t changed… ‘Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war…
In fact, those badges of credibility may actually indicate a company trying to compensate for negative press and unhappy franchise owners.
The meaninglessness of awards from seemingly credible organizations was made crystal clear by Blue Mau Mau publisher Don Sniegowski’s report from the American Association of Franchisees and Dealers (AAFD) convention in Newport News, VA yesterday. Instead of putting pressure on AAFD “Fair Franchising” award recipient Cuppy’s Coffee for their habit of taking people’s money and not giving it back, they invited them onstage for (I kid you not) a song and dance routine:
The American Association of Franchisees and Dealers’ 16th Annual Conference has convened in Newport News, Virginia and its Total Quality Franchising awards were presented Monday night.
It was a joyous occassion with a happy message of franchising in a fair way, with one exception. AAFD sent a strong metaphor - a song and dance on the podium numerous times with Cuppy’s leaders performing and speaking alongside AAFD leaders.
Meet the new boss… Same as the old boss…
AAFD members got a chance to meet the new boss of Cuppy’s Coffee, Dale Nabors:
Nabors admitted, “In my opinion, we [Cuppy’s] weren’t living up to AAFD standards. Cuppy’s had a desire to. I’m here tonight to say that we are going to commit to living up to the AAFD fair franchising standards.”
Sounding very similar to commitments made at the AAFD conference in Dallas last year where Cuppy’s president Doug Hibbing and his boss’s wife, Mrs. Morgan, said that they were honored and that they would change company practices to meet AAFD standards, now Hibbing’s new boss, Mr. Nabors says, “Next year we hope our franchise review and our franchisees say we deserve to be here.”
…The issue of whether Cuppy’s violated the association’s standards has been resolved by the voice of its new CEO. Yes.
For I know that the hypnotized never lie…
Don concludes his report with the reason why you should be skeptical of any award, especially an AAFD award:
After Dale Nabors’s apology, AAFD’s chairman, Robert Purvin, took the podium. He did not respond to Cuppy’s admission but simply said, “[Dale], I’d like you to present this next [fair franchising] award…”
An award was given out this evening by a presenter whose company by his own admission has not lived up to AAFD standards. Such a presentation undermines the value of the association’s fair franchising awards.
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray… We don’t get fooled again!.
There are many great opportunities and quality organizations out there. Do your homework, talk to as many franchisees as possible, and dig as deep as you can. Thanks to the contributors and commenters on a handful of resources like BlueMauMau.org, UnhappyFranchisee.com, The Bizop News and others, there’s no need to get fooled again.
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Photo Source: Wikipedia
Headline lyrics: “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who, Writer: Pete Townshend Released 25 June 1971, Polydor Records (UK) MCA Records (USA) Producer Glyn Johns
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By sean -- 0 comments
May 5th, 2008
Also read: Why the Meal Prep / Meal Assembly Kitchen Franchises are Failing. Part 3
(FranchisePick.Com) Comments made in a recent article on the closing of two Make and Take Gourmet franchises and in a blast email to customers have prompted an outraged backlash against the meal prep franchise chain founder Michele Bellso. Bellso’s publicly stated that she had fully expected franchise stores to close, and implied that it was the franchise owners’ own faults they failed. Despite four franchise failures and personal franchisee losses exceeding an estimated $800,000 in just over a year, Bellso said she would continue selling franchises without hesitation.
The comment section of one of the online articles quoting Bellso erupted in angry comments that praised the owner of the closed Baldwinsville store, and blasted Bellso for her comments:
bville1986 wrote:
Dear Ms. Bellso, I was a patron of the Bville location and was very impressed by that location’s owner Cheryl. I was also impressed with the atmosphere she created there since her employees were always so enthusiastic and always so eager to help. I will miss Cheryl’s sparkling personality. She was always so friendly and always made everyone feel so welcomed. She was already ahead of the game with the “Grab and Go” concept. She had sandwich signs and sent flyers advertising this concept beginning last year. Unfortunately, it seems your model for your franchises is what has missed the mark. I feel bad for Cheryl, and for all of the other franchise owners that invested alot of money in your failed concept.
I was one of the recipients of your “blast” email since I am a former Cicero customer, and could not believe how you summarized this whole situation. How can an owner of multiple franchises say they were all bound to fail?? Were you setting them all up to fail when you sold them the franchises?? You try to make yourself seem like you know what you’re doing and you’re going to succeed no matter what… but at what expense?? I will never patronize another Make & Take franchise, knowing the kind of person that is at the helm. 04/30/08 at 9:58PM
rosalind wrote
Unbelievable!!! How could Ms. Bellso actually say that “we expected some franchises would fail.” Must make the people who are losing a WHOLE LOT of money feel real good. Was that mentioned when the Bellso’s pitched a franchise to you? And, if customers are more inclined to ‘take’ rather than ‘make’,as Bellso says 04/28/08 at 6:24PM
smeyers029 wrote:
Dear Ms Bellso,
I feel terrible that B-ville and Camillus Make and Takes closed. However, I feel even worse that you as the founding owner, would blame either one of those owners, when they bought into your business plan and were to follow as you saw fit. I know for a fact that B-ville had many ideas that you would never support, and then you go on to say that they needed to change the model. Ms Bellso, you made them invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into building out your model, how do you expect a first year business to just trash that and start over.
The fact is you are a poor business woman who seems to not care about your franchises, just your own skin
Too bad, your model failed and I am sure in time so will you.
As for your franchises, I hope all of them are able to find their way without you and rise above. 05/01/08 at 1:00PM
optimist10 wrote:
Ms. Bellso,
I had the privilege of working at the Baldwinsville Make and Take, including the opening event. During this time, I regret to say, that I never once met you. You stated that “there are just so many variables to being successful”, and one of those variables is support. It never came from you.
As a customer, I received emails continually advertising events and specials available “only at our Cicero and Fayetteville” locations (your “corporate” stores). As an employee, I felt our facility was segregated; for what reason, I don’t know.
I feel you never made an attempt to personally promote Baldwinsville. We were fortunate enough to have a genuine, caring, professional management team, and continually assisted repeat customers and organizations. It was totally in their hearts to make this work, to make this franchise succeed. The parking is great, also convenient (handicapped accessible), the building was tastefully remodeled and designed (per your contractual specifications), and the Baldwinsville community is supportive, especially for small businesses. I don’t buy your “location” theory. We have a large school district, assisted living facilities, and several successful business organizations. There is not only the Radisson community, (5 minutes away), but Village Green, Kimbrook, and many other neighborhood developments that extend into Liverpool, Jordan- Elbridge, and Plainville.
If Make and Take continues to be an industry leader, then B’ville shouldn’t be closing. Why wasn’t the B’ville franchise getting the spotlight? Why not sponsor events at the locations who need business and promotion? I’m sure this comes down to money flowing into your own pocket. Sad to say, maybe it wasn’t enough for you.
If you were expecting your franchises to “morph”, as you so kindly put it, then it should be up to you to oversee that change. Not turn your back on people who count on you to be a leader, instead of a backstabber. 05/02/08 at 7:39PM
syrakuse wrote:
“There are just so many variables to being successful. It could be the location. It could be the ability to react to the retail model.”
I assume she approved the location of her franchises.
I would suggest she take over those location, prove that it was operational issues that cause those franchisees to fail the sell the locations to somebody more qualified!
Or not.
04/26/08 at 1:17AM
Syrakuse makes an interesting point. This seems like a great opportunity for the Bellso’s to step in and show the franchisee’s how it’s done.
Michele…?
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By sean -- 0 comments
May 5th, 2008
(FranchisePick.Com) Mother’s Day is fast approaching, and, for savvy businesses, so are sons, daughters and husbands… with wallets out and credit cards ready.
Some owners of florist, restaurants, gift shop, and confectionary franchises will receive a nice bump in business without much effort; Others are trying some aggressive and creative promotions to maximize their Mother’s Day bump.
Entree Vous Mother’s Day “Bond & Bake” Event
Entrée Vous franchise owners Patricia and Mike Brown of York County, VA are hosting a “Bond and Bake” event to promote their meal assembly kitchen franchise location.
The special event, to be held May 10 (the day before Mother’s Day) is designed to help families make enough meals to keep mom out of the kitchen on Mother’s Day. Families that participate in a Bond and Bake event noon to 2 p.m. May 10 at the kitchen site pay for the entrées they assemble and “get a free breakfast item mom will enjoy in bed.” The Browns scored a nice article and profile in the local Daily Press’ “Real Women” series.
Trexlertown Entree Vous “Bond & Bake” Makes Allentown Morning Call.
The franchise owner of this PA Entree Vous landed press in the Allentown Morning Call:
If you and the children would like to prepare a special Mother’s Day breakfast or meal, Entree Vous in Trexlertown can help you out.
It’s sponsoring a special Bond & Bake Mother’s Day cooking event, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 10 at its 1091 Millcreek Road location.
In addition to enabling children 5 and up to work with their dads at the meal prep stations, the kids also will be able to make their own chef’s hats and create Mother’s Day cards to go along with the entree they make with your help.
Best of all is that there will be no mess to clean up. You leave that behind because Entree Vous staff members will take care of it!
The Mother’s Day Breakfast in Bed package ($48.95) includes a breakfast fritatta, a hash brown casserole and a choice of either a Mixed Berry Crumble or an Apple Cobbler. However, dads and kids also could prepare any other family-sized entree (priced from $20.99 to $28.99) instead of the breakfast package.
Miami Herald: Entrée Vous, 13758 Kendall Dr., has a meal-assembly special for dads and kids planning ahead for Mother’s Day…
Where are other Meal Assembly Kitchen (MAK) Mother’s Day Promotions?
The struggling MAK franchise segment should have been aggressively promoting creative Mother’s Day themed options. With the exception of Entree Vous, search results for Mother’ Day Meal Prep promotions on GoogleNews were nonexistent:
Dream Dinners Mother’s Day: 0
Super Suppers Mother’s Day: 0*
Supper Thyme USA mother’s day: 0
My Girlfriend’s Kitchen mother’s day: 0
Dinner by Design: 1 Chicago Tribune
* Story of Green, OH Super Suppers closing came up
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By sean -- 7 comments
May 4th, 2008
(FranchisePick.Com) Laila Fields bet her house that a Cereality cereal cafe franchise would be a hit in Santa Cruz. FranchisePick.com readers are invited to bet on how soon she’ll realize what a bad, bad bet she made.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, “Laila Valdez Fields is so sure her quirky new cereal cafe will be a hit, she bet the house on it. Literally. A real estate agent, she persuaded her husband, a chiropractor, to sell their home to invest in the restaurant business.”
She and her partner held the grand opening for the Santa Cruz Cereality this past Saturday.
Guess the date the Santa Cruz Cereality cereal cafe will close and win great as-yet-undetermined prizes!
But VOTE FAST because this opportunity won’t last long!
Leave your vote in the comments below. Be sure to use your real email address (it won’t be displayed) so we can notify you if you’ve won.
Owners and employees of failed Cereality cafe, The Original Soup Man and Cold Stone Creamery franchises are encouraged to participate… and to share their opinions of Ms. Fields’ franchise decision.
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Research for the Cereality Dead Pool:
Cereality Franchise Closes in 3 Months; Breaks Previous Record
How ‘Bout a Stone Cold Bowl of Reality?
Can Kahala Cold Stone Put Some Reality in Cereality?
Reality, Surreality & Cereality
Trendy Franchise Concept Gets Cereality Check, Closes Store(s)
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By sean -- 3 comments
May 3rd, 2008
Upcoming food franchise opportunities we’re exploring: 5 & Diner,
Booster Juice, Carvel, Chocolography Food Imaging System, Currito Burritos Without Borders, Maui Wowi
(FranchisePick.Com)
Spring may be warming up for some, but 3 out of the 5 Cold Stone Creamery franchises have gone cold and stiff in the past year.
Melissa Cassutt of the Colorado Springs Gazette reports:
The latest, at 2130 Southgate Road, was seized after owner Pittman Investments LLC, failed to pay $23,985 in state sales tax, according to a sign posted on the door. The assets of the store - including a industrial-size ice cream machine and three waffle cone makers - will be sold in a public auction Tuesday.
The city also has a tax lien against Pittman Investments. Company owner Ralph S. Pittman Jr. could not be reached for comment.
Cold Stone Creamery franchises at 218 N. Tejon St. and 765 N. Academy, Colorado Springs, also closed within the last year. In May 2007 Michelle Chocolatiers & Ice Cream closed, and a Maggie Moo’s Ice Cream and Treatery franchise closed in November 2006.
According to Cassutt, approximately 16 percent of all Cold Stone franchises are for sale. So you can have your pick of 228 out of 1,400 franchises open.
Why are Cold Stone Creamery franchises failing?
Food and beverage industry publication The Ice Cream Reporter, blames the high cost of operating a Cold Stone Creamery franchise.
According to the article, former CSC franchisee Bruce Hodgkins is quoted as saying that “location and corporate policy played into his decision to relinquish the franchise back to corporate in 2005, after three years of business.”
According to Hodgkins, Cold Stone allowed the Tejon franchisee to open too close to his store, and they forced him to remodel shortly after opening. He also complained that Cold Stone didn’t let him to do his own advertising, and forced him to honor $40,000 worth of corporate coupons in his last year of business.
According to Cold Stone franchisee Hodgkins, “You just don’t make any money the way it’s set up.”
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By sean -- 2 comments
May 3rd, 2008
(FranchisePick.Com) NEWPORT NEWS - The American Association of Franchisees and Dealers are converging on Newport News to promote franchise fairways fairness and to celebrate the exciting first anniversary of the AAFD’s decision to sell-out out the interests of franchisees in favor of the much lower-handicapped franchisors. FranchisePick.Com offers some suggestions for fun, last minute awards!
The AAFD’s 16th Anniversary Franchisee Leadership Summit And Annual Meeting Kicks off tomorrow in Newport News, Virginia.
You can tell the AAFD is run by attornies by the catchiness of the 9-word conference name: AAFD’s 16th Anniversary Franchisee Leadership Summit And Annual Meeting. I feel like I’m getting billed .25 hours every time I read it.
You can also tell, by the golfer in the conference logo, that they are convening a serious summit on the advancement of franchise fairways. I mean, franchise fairness.
This is the exciting first anniversary of the AAFD’s decision to sell-out out the interests of franchisees in favor of the much lower-handicapped franchisors. The kick-off event for the AAFDs bold new experiment in self-parody was last year’s granting of a Fair Franchising Accreditation to the most controversial and contentious franchise company, pound for pound, on the Internet: Cuppy’s Coffee.
This year’s follow-up is the granting of an AAFD award to the ex-head of the FTC’s franchising division, in recognition his abandonment of his post at the most critical time in recent history.
CAUTION! SPOILER ALERT! Surprise AAFD award rumors:
Here are some suggestions for last minuts AAFD surprise awards that will add some excitement to the “19th Hole” festivities:
The Corey & Robin Rivera Award for Best Shell Game: This would go to Cuppy’s Coffee for their classic contributions of such phrases as We’re not Java Jo’z, we’re Cuppy’s Coffee!, Bad Roy Snowden took your money, I’m good Morg Morgan, and the much-anticipated Bad Morg Morgan took your money, I’m good Dale Nabors.
The Rivera’s sold their house to make the $30,000 “refundable” deposit because they trusted Robert “Morg” Morgan. The presenter will point out that the Rivera’s survived Hurricane Katrina, but were no match for AAFD award recipient Robert “Morg” Morgan.
The Criston Menz Chutzpah Award: This award will also go to Cuppy’s Coffee. Chutzpah is a Yiddish term for audaciousness, such as a boy convicted of murdering his parents begging the judge for leniency because he is now an orphan. In franchising, chutzpah means profitable audaciousness, such as Cuppy’s Coffee requiring a $35,900 upfront deposit from Criston Menz, then only offering to pay back $20,900 of it… in 8 installments over 8 months. Criston was scheduled to present the award, but couldn’t afford the airfare, leaving the AAFD scrambling to find a Jewish member capable of pronouncing Chutzpah without saying saying Criston Mensch.
The Asbestos Ear Award: This is to be awarded to Cuppy’s Coffee affiliate Elite Manufacturing’s Danny Jones who is reported to work tirelessly to not return money to its rightful owners. Danny Jones has reportedly excelled in call avoidance, using every club in the bag, from “personal illness” and “out sick” to “on the phone,” “in a meeting” and “out of the office.” When time for personal engagement, Jones really shines with such trademark phrases as “Never Gonna Happen,” and the inspirational “It’s impossible and not in the budget.”
Lina & Lee, who nominated Danny Jones on UnhappyFranchisee.com, FranchisePick.Com (as ralcalclee) and Rip-offReport.com would have loved to present the award, but they could not afford the airfare as they sent their $35,900 savings for a Cuppy’s Coffee franchise and still cannot get it returned.
The Gala Ball(gag) Honoree: Our reliable source has also leaked rumors of a new tradition. At the AAFD Gala Ball, all attendees will don special silken gags embroidered with the AAFD logo to honor a franchisor who has been especially adept at silencing detractors through intimidation and threat of never getting any of their own money returned.
This year’s winner is rumored to be hands-down favorite AAFD Accredited Cuppy’s Coffee. The original plan was to show a video with dozens of Cuppy’s Coffee gag order recipients, including Angie of Clever, MO, Rolando of Bueno Park, CA, Daniel Suarez, Robert, Angela Evans, and more. However, since the franchisees aren’t allowed to talk, AAFD host Robert Purvin will lead the group in a prolonged period of silence in honor of Cuppy’s Coffee.
That seems highly appropriate, since he’s been practicing it all year.
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By sean -- 2 comments
May 2nd, 2008
[Pictured: Corey & Robyn Rivera in happier times]
Related: Unhappy Franchisees Offer Insider Advice to Franchise Buyers
(FranchisePick.Com) Imagine that you and your significant other dream of owning a gourmet coffee shop. You find a great company called Java Jo’z that helps people start and run their own Java Jo’z coffee shops. The Java Jo’z people are extremely nice, and just require a $30,000 deposit to make your dream a reality. If you have any trouble finding a location or getting financing, they say, we’ll give you your deposit back.
So you sell your house to get the $30,000 deposit. But when your location doesn’t work out, they refuse to return your deposit.
“Sorry, but we’re not Java Jo’z anymore,” they say. “We’re Cuppy’s Coffee now! And we don’t owe you jack.” Then they hang up.
That’s a familiar true story that’s been recounted many times over on this blog in the last year. And it’s a basic synopsis of Corey & Robyn Rivera’s story on a new site called UnhappyFranchisee.com. On UnhappyFranchisee.Com, frustrated, disappointed and/or angry franchisees share their experiences in the hope of warning others not to fall into the trap they did.
In addition to “avoid Cuppy’s Coffee, its affiliate Elite Manufacturing or parent company Median Enterprises,” Robyn Rivera provides these tips for franchise seekers:
- Dig deep… read all correspondence about a company and the people in it; listen to what is being said….
- Do extensive research (BBB, Complaint websites, FranchisePick.com, Attorney General, FTC etc.) and see if there are complaints being filed.
- No matter how nice they are, make sure any monies being handed over are set up in a 3rd party escrow account.
- Pay an experienced franchise lawyer to review the contract CLOSELY, and know what recourse you have if they don’t live up to their side of the bargain….
Remember, you can’t afford to be trusting when you are risking your retirement or your children’s future.
VISIT UNHAPPYFRANCHISEE.COM
READ ROBYN & COREY’S INTERVIEW
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We sold our house to get the equity for the down payment…
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By sean -- 0 comments
May 2nd, 2008
(FranchisePick.Com) We were immediately impressed with how friendly and family oriented the entire Cuppy’s Coffee organization was…. Once they had our money, everything changed.
Criston Menz on UnhappyFranchisee.com.
Next week, at the AAFD (American Association of Franchisees and Dealer’s) convention in Newport News, VA, Cuppy’s Coffee will celebrate the first anniversary of the highly touted Fair Franchising award they received from the franchisee association. The award was granted despite widespread complaints about the company’s franchise practices, including its habit of not returning $40,000 refundable deposits. The award has since become a prominent marketing tool in selling more franchises and collecting more $40,000 deposits.
Two of the unhappy franchisees who share their stories and advice on a new website called UnhappyFranchisee.com will not be sending Cuppy’s Coffee anniversary cards anytime soon. Both Criston Menz, of Albuquerque, NM, and Robyn and Corey Rivera, of Houma, LA, share their cautionary tales of what can go wrong when you join the wrong franchise organization. They offer tips for would-be franchise owners to avoid the same mistakes they made.
“I am tired of being bullied by a company that did me wrong.” Criston Menz
Criston Menz and her partner were excited when they answered an ad for the opportunity to own a Cuppy’s Coffee cafe franchise. They were even more excited when after meeting their warm, friendly staff. However, says Criston, that all changed as soon as the company had their money:
The initial contact was comfortable with people who knew our name, our background, and made us feel valued and wanted us as a part of their organization. The support was FABULOUS until they got our 20% down payment of $39,500 paid to Elite for the construction of the build out.
Once they had our money, everything changed. From then on, we were ignored and left wondering what was going on. Trying to get anyone from Cuppy’s to call us back was like waiting for it to snow in the summer time.
“Instead of a check, they sent us a settlement agreement…” Criston Menz
The $39,500 deposit made to Cuppy’s Coffee affiliate was refundable in the event the Menz’s did not get financing for the rest of the investment. In March, 2007, Criston sent a letter requesting the return of out $35,900 refundable deposit, per their agreement. Said Criston:
Instead of sending us a check, they sent us a settlement agreement that stated they would keep the franchise fee of $15k and pay us $20,900 in 8 equal installments over 8 months. They stated that they had invested our monies in their “new” company.
We found that unacceptable and unethical. We thought they had our refundable deposit set aside in escrow, as a professional company would have…
To this date, neither Cuppy’s Coffee, Elite Manufacturing, nor their parent company Medina have returned a dime of the money Criston paid more than a year ago. To would-be franchise owners, Criston offers this advice on UnhappyFranchisee.com:
Read the blogs. You will find out more information regarding any company by reading the blogs and asking all the right questions there. Be informed, very informed.
To read Criston’s story and advice from other franchisees, visit UnhappyFranchisee.Com.
If you would like information on sharing your story on UnhappyFranchisee.com, email UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
Photo source: Criston Menz
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By sean -- 2 comments
April 30th, 2008
(FranchisePick.Com)
Why are the meal assembly kitchen franchises failing?
One reason: Self-Delusion.
In a recent post, I wrote about an article on Michele Bellso, the cheery franchisor of 14-unit Make & Take Gourmet, whose enthusiasm for selling more franchises appeared unaffected by the fact that 3 of her first franchisees have lost their $200K investments. She freely admits that she doesn’t know the cause of the failures, and didn’t seem too concerned about figuring it out.
She also freely admits to not knowing for sure whether they’re in the meal prep kitchen business or in the take out prepared foods business. She talks about the concept “evolving” to a model that sounds suspiciously like one we already have. It’s called a grocery store.
Franchisor delusions that franchising is easy.
This is from an article on Make & Take Gourmet from last March, 2007 :
Make and Take Gourmet Holdings is taking over the East Coast. The DeWitt-based meal-replacement business is planning to open licensed locations from New Hampshire to the tip of Florida and everywhere in between. Between 60 and 70 Make and Take franchise-owned stores will open in 2007.
IMHO:
An new franchisor who thinks they can (or should) open 60-70 units in the first year lacks experience.
A new franchisor who blabs those plans to a reporter lacks judgement.
A new franchisor who has 12 units open and 3 failures at the end of that year lacks credibility. Big time.
(A December, 2007, a company press release stated that the company had opened 23 Make & Take Gourmet franchises. There are only 12 on the website. Where are the rest?) Franchisor delusions of invincibility
Franchisor delusions of invincibility
Suffice it to say that if a new franchisor is not familiar with federal prohibitions against providing earnings claim information outsite of Item 19 of the UFOC, they should at least have the sense not to blab all their numbers - real or inflated - to the press. Like these:
Make and Take’s Cicero location sells, on average, 3,000 meals per day, Bellso says. In December 2006, during the busy holiday season, sales increased to 6,000 meals per day, she adds.
Make and Take’s Cicero location will generate annual revenue of $1.2 million to $1.5 million, says David Bellso, Make and Take’s franchise-sales manager.
(Did you hear that sound? That was the franchisee lawyers shrieking, in unison, “Hot Damn!”)
Franchisor delusions of grandeur
Michele Bellso [is] founder and sole owner… The growth of Make and Take is entirely company funded, Bellso says. The company currently has no investors and has not taken out any loans, she says.
By “company-funded” I assume Bellso means “Franchisee-funded.” Franchisees pay a $30,000 franchise fee, 5% of gross sales, and 2% marketing contribution which I assume is paid for projects undertaken by the Bellso’s design firm. Franchise fees from the 16 who have opened would amount to $450K.
Michele Bellso has hired a director of franchise development, franchise-sales sales manager, and an accounting manager to staff the corporate office. She plans to hire an additional 30 employees to serve as corporate trainers, customer-service representatives, and procurement associates by the end of 2007, she says. Make and Take currently employs 180, including employees that work at licensed stores.
The priority of these proposed new hires contains perhaps the greatest reason that the meal assembly kitchen franchises are failing.
The first two are for selling new franchises, and are high-dollar sales positions.
The third is for someone to count the money the first two bring in.
The least priority is given to hiring those who will provide the support the franchisees were promised.
Hopefully, some of the franchisees will get a chance to meet them.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.
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By sean -- 17 comments
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