I used to be a franchise lender, but I lost interest.
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Recruiting and retaining top talent are critical to a franchisee's success. By offering competitive healthcare employee benefits, franchisees can utilize a proven retention strategy to hold on to quality store managers and ultimately help increase profitability.
Ultimate fighting started on the streets, featuring brawls so bloody that lawmakers tried to get it banned. Today, UFC just sold for a staggering $4 billion to a new group of owners, and events like UFC 200 in July draw sell-out crowds. Enter UFC Gym, a young franchise owned 50-50 by UFC and a group of private investors, trying to translate the sport's worldwide popularity into unit sales.
Think about your average trip to a shopping mall—the height of car-based convenience. You jockey for an open spot, park, then walk the gauntlet through a chaotic lot filled with other distracted drivers. Judging by the crowds at most malls, walking the equivalent of a few blocks to the entrance doesn't appear to scare off any shoppers.
Rebranding efforts range from a logo change to exterior updates to vehicle wraps, but they all share something in common—everything goes better when franchisees buy in. Three franchises describe their decisions to have a little work done.
As competition for top real estate locations continues to heat up, franchise groups are finding that forging relationships with developers can pay big dividends when it comes to securing space in new retail projects.
A trio of healthy lifestyle young men started Jamba Juice by opening a single smoothie shop in California in 1991 that they called Juice Club. They began franchising, and in 1997 changed their company's name to Jamba Juice. In 2000 Jamba Juice acquired rival Zuka Juice and in 2003 was acquired itself. The new owners took the company public in 2006 as JMBA, at a price of about $50 a share.
Marcato Capital had some choice words for the Buffalo Wild Wings board after a tepid quarter and lackluster analyst day. The hedge fund's founder and CEO Mick McGuire sent a scathing public letter and detailed presentation that questioned the company's direction.
Franchisees and other small-business owners have a number of ways to comply with new overtime guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Obama Administration, but attorneys and lawyers working with such clients suggest getting started sooner rather than later.
Becoming Mom Spa+ Ultrasound hired Susan King Glosby as its new vice president. Villa Restaurant Group added Enrico Cundari as the new controller of its corporate finance team.