Help-U-Sell Files Bankruptcy
The consulting CEO, who apparently is not quite permanent enough to yet be called the interim CEO, blames the economy but paints a hopeful future.
"The real estate market itself was clearly the prime cause" . . . "Revenues generated by the franchisees were not adequate to sustain them at the level they were currently operating at. We needed to restructure to have revenues and expenses more in alignment, and that's what this whole process is about."
He makes no mention of the million dollar lawsuit.
A regional director employee is more grim and concerned about his job. He blames his managers and their decision of a new web site for the downfall of the company.
Dale Strack . . . who had been a part of Help-U-Sell's management team at two different times in the company's history, said that the company is making a bid to eliminate the regional director positions (his position) and to bring in consultants to work with franchisees. . . Strack and others have cited the implementation of a new company Web site as a problem for franchisees, and he also said management changes may have contributed -- the company announced a management restructuring in 2005 . . .
And a franchisee says the company's downfall is attributable to the franchisor just not listening enough to its franchisees.
Mike Elliott, a former Help-U-Sell franchise owner in New Jersey who had been one of the company's top producers, left the company last year. "My thoughts are the same they were a year ago -- the management team didn't listen to the successful franchisees," he said.
So there you have it --the players of a troubled franchise system and their different perspectives.
The company, with an estimated 450 franchises, had an estimated 820 offices in 2006 and 650 offices in 2007. The franchisor is no stranger to bankruptcy, having declared it during the last housing downturn.
Read the details at Help-U-Sell franchiser files for bankruptcy, Inman News
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