Atlanta Bread bakery in White Plains, New York. Photo/Steinberg <!--break-->ATLANTA – “Accordingly, the Court of Appeals did not err when it affirmed the trial court’s finding that the in-term restraint was unenforceable. Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.” That was the final ruling posted this morning by the Georgia Supreme Court in the Atlanta Bread Co. v. Lupton-Smith case that determined non-compete clauses for franchises have limits. The Supreme Court ruled last October that it would review the appellate court decision in the case of a former Atlanta Bread franchisee who had been terminated for allegedly violating his non-compete clause in opening a PJ’s Coffee franchise. Lupton-Smith, a five-unit operator, initially filed a lawsuit against Atlanta Bread in 2006 for the...

LOS ANGELES - The death of Michael Jackson is likely to spark some flashbacks for those who remember when pop was king, and Jackson was the "King of Pop"--and a powerful pitchman for franchisor Pepsi. <!--break--> Jackson had a huge impact on media, and on advertising. His Pepsi commercial was a sensation when it aired in 1983, and set the pattern for the Pepsi commercials becoming events in themselves, with significant media attention.  The perspective of history may give a creepy aspect to the video of the young boy idolizing Jackson, but in 1983 it was a huge hit and a boon to Pepsi bottlers worldwide. By 1989, Coke entered the fray with a George Michael commercial, but Pepsi still won out with a $5 Million (in 1989 dollars) commercial that was more famous for being...

ATLANTA – In an interview last October with United Parcel Services, spokesperson Norman Black emphatically stated that he could not confirm that UPS or Mail Boxes Etc. (MBE) had engaged the services of the Boston Consulting Group to conduct a major study (pdf file, 15 pgs) on the financial health of the system.<!--break--> When informed that a deposition of MBE in-house counsel Rich Kolman revealed the alleged results of the feasibility report showing “77 percent of the network, meaning 77 percent of the stores, were operating at “either an at risk or worse status,”  Black replied, “We don’t need an outside consultant to tell us the health of our network. I want to be very clear here. I have no idea what you are talking about.” Trial exhibit, top of slide 8. Source: Boston Consulting...

Source/PKF HR <!--break--> ATLANTA - The outlook for the lodging industry in 2009 is bleak. As of June 2009, PKF Hospitality Research (PKR-HR) is forecasting that the average U.S. hotel will suffer a 37.8 percent decline in net operating income (NOI)* from 2008 to 2009. If this projection holds true, it would be the greatest annual decline in unit-level profits observed ever since PKF started tracking hotel performance back in 1937. Despite this gloomy forecast, there will be some hotels that persevere and achieve an increase on the bottom line during the year. To identify those properties that might have the opportunity to increase their profits in 2009, PKF-HR has analyzed 2001 hotel performance information from our Trends® in the Hotel Industry database. Despite an overall...