For a few years now, McDonald’s franchisees have been vocal about their dislike of the McCafé line of espresso beverages. The company has responded by adding more beverages to the line and requiring restaurants to spend thousands on new machines. Franchisees are not fans of this change. [More]
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Tim Hortons Franchisees Complain That Burger King Is Flame-Broiling The Brand’s Canadianness
By 7.12.17
While Tim Hortons has restaurants in Canada and in the United States, most people think of the coffee and doughnut chain as an icon of its home country. It is, after all, named after a hockey player and sponsors a national curling tournament every year. If Timmies isn’t Canadian, then nothing is. Only now the chain’s franchisees say that the new bosses are charging them more for basics, and ending community involvement. [More]
Former 7-Eleven Franchisee Opens Store Called 6-Twelve, Declares War
By 6.1.17
Years ago, a man moved from Bangladesh to Boston and dreamed of opening his own business. He worked hard and eventually owned a 7-Eleven franchise and store. He lost the franchise after a series of disagreements with the company. After years of legal wrangling, he started a new venture: A store down the street called 6-Twelve. [More]
Dairy Queen Pulls Franchise From Owner Who Addressed Family With Racial Slurs
By 1.10.17
It’s unusual to see a crowd of people toting signs and celebrating that a local restaurant has closed. The people outside the Dairy Queen in Zion, IL, had originally planned a protest urging people to boycott after the franchisee reportedly called at a customer and her children by a racial slur, but Dairy Queen pulled his franchise and the restaurant closed in the interim. [More]
McDonald’s Tries Again To Make McCafe Competitive With Starbucks, Dunkin’
By 12.5.16
Just like better burger joints have nibbled away at McDonald’s sandwich business, competitors with a wider variety of coffee options are attracting the caffeine-seeking consumers away from the Golden Arches. Now the fast food giant wants to re-establish its coffee bona fides, investing in equipment to help stores compete with the likes of Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts. [More]
McDonald’s Franchisees Say Company Should Kick “Discounting Addiction”
By 10.19.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
Though McDonald’s has been riding high on all-day breakfast since its launch last year, the company’s franchisees say the novelty is fading. Part of the problem, several complain, is McDonald’s love of discounts. [More]
Number Of Wendy’s Restaurants Hit In Malware Attack Now ‘Considerably Higher’ Than 300
By 6.9.16
Wendy’s, a fast food chain that serves burgers, fries, and salad experiences, has had some recent issues with malware. Specifically, they announced last month that about 300 franchisees had been hit with malware that breached customers’ card data. The investigation continued, though, and so did fraudulent charges. It turns out that there was another piece of malware lurking in payment systems. The number of stores hit is “considerably higher” than the company originally thought. [More]
New York Sues Domino’s Pizza HQ, Alleges Underpayment Of Workers
By 5.24.16
A new lawsuit filed by New York state prosecutors accuses Domino’s Pizza and three Domino’s franchisees of underpaying workers at 10 stores by at least $565,000. Meanwhile, Domino’s HQ contends it should not be a defendant because franchisees are responsible for handling issues of pay. [More]
Franchisees’ Challenge To Seattle’s $15/Hour Minimum Wage Falls Short
By 5.2.16
When Seattle city leadership voted in 2014 to approve a plan to raise minimum wage to $15/hour over the course of several years, franchisees in the city said the rules were unfair and vowed to challenge the higher wages in court. Today that challenge came to a quiet end when the U.S. Supreme Court elected to not hear the matter. [More]
McDonald’s Franchisees Aren’t Lovin’ The All-Day Breakfast Menu
By 10.15.15
While consumers might be excited to have the opportunity to order brenner (breakfast for dinner) when visiting McDonald’s after a long day of work, that doesn’t mean the people cracking eggs and flipping sausage patties are excited. In fact, franchisees say the rollout of McDonald’s all-day breakfast has been less “lovin’ it,” and more nightmare. [More]
McDonald’s Plans Simpler Drive-Thru Menu To Speed Up Orders, Expanding Test Of All-Day Breakfast
By 5.12.15
Beyond selling off a bunch of company-owned restaurants to franchisees, McDonald’s has been a bit vague on the details on how it intends to turn around struggling sales at the chain. Yesterday the company offered a glimmer of its vision for the future, sharing a plan with franchisees to trim its drive-thru menu, add some more midprice offerings and expand tests of its (limited) all-day breakfast menu. [More]
Wendy’s Selling 640 Restaurants In U.S. And Canada
By 5.6.15
It seems selling fast food restaurants to franchisees is somewhat de rigueur these days: After McDonald’s recently said it’s using that plan to steer its big turnaround plan, Wendy’s announced today that it’ll be selling a total of 640 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada this year as well as its baking operation in Zanesville, OH. [More]
RadioShack Franchisees Don’t Want Surprises In Corporate Bankruptcy
By 3.17.15 — Updated: 5.30.17
RadioShack has declared bankruptcy and plans to liquidate, closing or maybe continuing to exist in a co-branded venture with Sprint. However, there are about 700 RadioShack stores that are doing okay. These stores are dealers and franchisees, stores that carry RadioShack merchandise and perhaps their brand, but might sell other merchandise too. The bankruptcy of RadioShack has some terrible effects on these merchants, and they’re working together to make sure that they aren’t hurt as parts of RadioShack are sold off. [More]
Domino’s Promotion Guilts Stores That Haven’t Dropped “Pizza” From Restaurant Signage
By 2.19.15
You may have heard that Domino’s Pizza changed its name recently, simply dropping the Pizza, because, you know, it sells more than just circles of sauce and cheese now. To make sure the new name is being used, the company started an initiative asking customers to embarrass stores using the old name and logo by shaming them on social media. [More]
NLRB: McDonald’s Retaliation Against Workers Who Participated In Protests Violates Their Rights
By 12.19.14
McDonald’s and some of its franchisees retaliated against workers who participated in protests and other demonstrations over hours and working conditions, the National Labor Relations Board said today, in announcing several complaints it filed accusing the fast-food chain of violating workers’ rights with “discriminatory discipline.” [More]
Burger King Franchisees Tired Of Inexperienced Corporate Field Coaches
By 10.27.14
During the last few years and under new ownership, Burger King has changed its business model slightly. The company once owned some restaurants as well as franchising its brand, but now has mostly left the restaurant-running business. Instead, they extract franchise royalties and send “field coaches” to look over the literal and metaphorical shoulders of their franchisees. [More]
Court: Domino’s Not Responsible For Sexual Harassment Of 16-Year-Old Employee
By 9.3.14
When a worker at a fast food franchise acts like an a-hole, it’s obviously his boss’s immediate responsibility to investigate and discipline that employee if necessary. But does the corporate office share any liability when things go wrong at the franchisee level? What about when people from company HQ are involved in the decision of whether or not to dismiss an employee? According to California’s highest court, the buck stops at the franchisee’s door. [More]
Burger King’s Largest Franchisee Blames Local Ad Cuts For Lower Sales
By 8.6.14
A few weeks ago, we shared with you a Bloomberg Businessweek cover story about fast-food chain Burger King, its young leadership, and its effort to change a lot of things about the fast-food brand business model. When the chain shed most of its corporate-owned stores in the U.S. in 2012, existing franchisees like publicly traded Carrols took on those restaurants. Its sales are down, Carrols wants investors to know, because Burger King cut back on local ad reimbursements to his loyal subjects. [More]
