Pualani's blog

After months of talks, a reluctant Circuit City is finally allowing Blockbuster and its activist shareholder Carl Icahn to look at its books. Blockbuster and Icahn have faced much opposition from City management in allowing them access to information they must have to do their due diligence prior to making an offer for City.

Blockbuster, facing challenging times because of Netflix and other competition, has offered slightly more than $1 billion in a hostile takeover bid for Circuit City Stores, Inc.

In today’s Wall Street Journal (free), franchise brokers, referral networks and  franchise consultants are discussed, giving the basics of the way they operate, who their real clients are, conflict

In this short video clip Lorraine McLachlan, President of the Canadian Franchise Association (CFA), gives a short overview of the organization at the February 2007 CFA Franchise Show.

Terry Loebel wasn't thinking about founding an advertising phenomenon when he went to his mailbox in 1967 and inspiration struck. Valpak, the company Loebel soon started, today has 200 franchises throughout the U.S. and Canada. The advertising company sends its distinctive blue coupon-stuffed envelope to 45 million homes each month from its new $220 million St. Petersburg, Florida plant.

Of the top 20 on Fortune’s most admired companies, three are either franchisors or have a segment that includes franchising. They are McDonald’s (Food Services), UPS (Delivery and Logistics) and Berkshire Hathaway (Insurance: Property and Casualty). UPS is well-known for its franchising segment, The UPS Store, and Berkshire Hathaway, run by the fabled Warren Buffett (his annual letter to shareholders is eagerly read by legions of serious investors), owns Dairy Queen, Orange Julius, Texas Country Foods (name of most DQ locations in Texas) and Karmelkorn, all franchises.

Blockbuster continues to search for and implement new ways to remain competitive in its rapidly changing and extremely competitive environment. Eighteen percent of its 5,000+ domestic locations are franchise owned and operated, with the rest being run by the company.

Christmas Decorations of Franchises in Hawaii

Mele Kalikimaka, everyone! Here are some shots of franchises in Hawaii, decorated for Christmas. All these were taken yesterday, Christmas Eve. We never have any snow to add to that Christmas feeling, but we never hear any complaints about that. It’s in the 70’s during the day now, not as hot as the 80’s during the summer.

Lou Dobbs, a hard-hitting news program, regularly runs stories on military heroes. This evening’s program (Sunday, November 25) featured Iraq veteran Robbie Doughty and the unusual way he got involved with his own Little Caesars Pizza franchise, located in Paducah, Kentucky.

By way of background, Little Caesars was founded in 1959 by Michael and Marian Ilitch, who are still active in the business. Michael is a former Marine who also owns the Detroit Tigers and the Red Wings. A talented baseball player in his younger days, he was assigned to the Marine baseball team in Hawaii during the Korean War.

The Lou Dobbs video isn’t available at this time, but here is the transcript, which I typed up directly from the program:

CNN: Help for Heroes

Christine Romans (newscaster): One American business is saying “Thanks!” to our military veterans in its own way. Kitty Pilgrim talked with one of those veterans and the president of the company that helped him.

Humans and pets go back probably to the beginning of the human race. In many families, the most popular member is their dog. Everyone may be upset at each other, but not at the family dog. Depressed senior citizens snap out of their doldrums when a dog, wagging its tail, comes to visit their nursing home. And it's not just dogs. A restaurant in the heart of Waikiki does a booming business because of its huge, two-story marine aquarium (and their good food).

According to a recent Business Week cover story, Americans now spend $41 billion annually on their pets. To put that into perspective, that’s in excess of what Americans spend on the movies ($10.8 billion), playing video games ($11.6 billion) and listening to recorded music ($10.6 billion) combined!

The Business Week story goes on to say that The American Pet Products Manufacturers Assn. reports that 42% of dogs now sleep in the same bed as their owners, up from 34% in 1998. Their menu has now gone far beyond the dog food of years ago, reflecting the variety of the diets of the humans they live with. Half of all dog owners say they consider their pet's comfort when buying a car, and almost a third buy gifts for their dogs' birthdays.