Franchise Pick's blog

Great innovators are often called loco. 

They called Ray Kroc loco when he invented the HulaBurger.

 Sean Kelly, publisher of franchise blog FranchisePick.Com and occasional troublemaker, responds to Bob Purvin’s response (Some W

In 2007, Cuppy's Coffee disputed allegations that it was collecting refundable franchise deposits and refusing to return them by blaming its predecessor, Java Jo'z. Disturbingly similar allegations are spreading in 2008.

It's deja vu all over again: Prospective franchisees give a drive-thru coffee company large, refundable deposits ($30-$40K) while they try to secure funding and/or real estate. When they are unable to do so and return for their "escrowed" funds, they are told those funds are no longer available.

50+ franchisees of the second largest women's fitness chain allege Contours Express understated costs, overstated earnings projections & provided virtually no support.

More than 50 Contours Express franchise owners have filed a petition for damages in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County against AABB Fitness Holdings Inc. (formerly known as Contours Express, Inc.), and Contours Express LLC, alleging fraud and breach of contract. Among the numerous complaints, each of the plaintiffs allege:

• "The Contours Express UFOC dramatically understated the cost of building out and operating a location."
• "The owners of Contours Express and their representatives also made “earnings claims” or verbal pitches regarding profitability, which are prohibited by the Federal Trade Commission, to entice the Plaintiffs to purchase franchises and their lenders to finance them."

 In an interview on FranBest Coffee, Tommy Lowery claims his Village Coffee license program provides lower fees, less markup and more freedom than its franchised coffee counterparts. 

In an interview on the FranBest Coffee Blog, Tommy Lowery claims to have founded the Village Coffee license program in part to give would-be gourmet coffee shop owners an alternative to coffee franchises he saw that marked up the products and supplies they sold to their franchise owners as much as 30% - 50%. 

Says Tommy:  "We only charge 10% over the distributor cost. This equates to an annual savings of $17,000 for an average Village Coffee licensee. A franchisee or licensee of our competitors would have to sell an additional $59,000 to make up for that $17,000 in additional mark-up. We’re trying to leave more of our licensees’ hard-earned revenue in their bank accounts, where it belongs."

Chicago-based franchise consulting firm Francorp has established a licensee in the Middle East and established a Francorp Middle East office in Dubai. 

Here are excerpts from the company press release dated July 16, 2007:

Francorp establishes its Dubai office
Francorp Inc., the American franchise leader and the world's foremost franchise development and consulting group, headquartered in Chicago - USA - announced the establishment of its services through Francorp Middle East, based in Dubai, to provide services to large, medium and small businesses in the Middle East region.

* * * * *

Commenting on this recent and important expansion, Donald Boroian, Founder & Chairman of Francorp, said: "Franchising, as a rapid expansion tactic, is one of most effective options a company should consider for its potential to grow and expand the business quickly; especially in a market like the Middle East where the franchise industry is valued at over $14bn and is growing at an annual rate of 27%.'

Technology Allowing More Franchise Owners To Have Dual Careers

Interesting article published today by the Wall Street Journal's Raymund Flandez and Gwendolyn Bounds on remote management of franchise units and the use of new technology by franchisors and franchisees.

In January, Entrepreneur Magazine named iSold It eBay drop-off store franchise as #110 in its influential Entrepreneur 500 ranking, and #1 on its Top New Franchise for 2007 list.  In April, after increasingly disturbing information began appearing on BlueMauMau.org, FranchisePick.Com and AmITheOnlyOne.Org, iSold It CEO Ken Sully publicly admitted that there were big problems with the much-hyped concept and more than 60 stores had closed.  In June, Entrepreneur magazine seems to have quietly "disappeared" iSold It from their rankings.

The Entrepreneur 499?

Within the past two weeks, iSold It mysteriously disappeared from its #110 spot in the 28th Entrepreneur 500 rankings.  Since other companies in the listing have widely publicized their ranking numbers, Entrepreneur seems to have just eliminated the #110 position.

Wise Up! Skip College. Buy a Franchise!

 College costs are soaring.  The cost of a four-year college degree ranges from $51,184 at a mediocre public university to $121, 468 at an overpriced private college to $175,920 at the snotty elite colleges of people we resent.  And these figures don't include four years of lost wages, murdered brain cells and outside expenses such a pizza, beer, paraphernalia and disorderly conduct fines.

Shouldn't someone expose the hoax that higher education and college students are perpetrating on the parents and taxpayers of America?  Shouldn't someone inform them that a far better investment of the same money would be a 7-day $449 Internet diploma and a franchise?

Well, finally someone has. I don’t want to imply that college is a waste of time, money and brain cells, so I’ll state it: College is a waste of time, money and brain cells.

Chyten Educational Services has signed its first four franchisees. The first four franchised locations will be in Franklin, Massachusetts; Framingham, Massachusetts; Mount Kisco, New York & Gaithersburg, Maryland. Chyten introduced its franchise program earlier this year and now has the program underway. (FranchisePick.Com) 

Here's a press release from Chyten Educational Services.  Chyten is a new franchisor of tutoring/test prep centers.  They have formed a unique partnership with Ultra Franchising Inc., which is a division of Minuteman Press.  The idea is to use Minuteman Press's national sales and support infrastructure to accelerate growth and provide localized support for selected start-up franchise concepts.

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P R E S S  R E L E A S E

Immed. Release

Chyten Educational Services Has Initial Franchisees On Board