Quiznos Torpedoes It’s Franchisees!

Quiznos wasn’t happy with giving away its franchisee’s money with the unannounced 1,000,000 free subs, they’ve now risen to an all new low by dropping the bar on sandwiches from $5 to $4.  So how did this come about?  Well, it starts with your young and less than knowledgeable (no clue on human nature, past historical ramifications of such actions) marketing person, Ms. Rebecca Steinfort:

“The reality is that we are a challenger brand,” Chief Marketing Officer Rebecca Steinfort said in an interview. “Our main competition is Subway, which is an 800-pound gorilla. We may be 200 pounds, but they’re 800.” – AdAge article by Emily Bryson York

Now who pays for the reduction in profits?  Why the franchisees of course!  Check out the next statement:

At Quiznos, marketing failed to drive traffic and closed stores. The chain now has about 4,500 locations worldwide, by Ms. Steinfort’s estimate. The company is private and does not disclose sales figures. – – AdAge article by Emily Bryson York

What a great job!  I can try and try and try until I get it right, because I don’t have to absorb the cost of my actions!  The franchisees take all the grief.  I get to sit in the VIP box at the Yankees games while those miserable blokes deliver sandwiches 24/7!  The franchisees are simply collateral damage.

Question for Ms Steinfort: If stores go out of business selling a $5.00 sub, then how many more will go out selling a $4 sub?  Let’s view Ms Steinfort’s experience/profile on LinkedIn:

When one scans education, it’s quite respectable (Princeton, Harvard Business), though still wet-behind-the ears on experience.  But look a little further and you see Ms Steinfort came from Level 3 Communications claiming a title of corporate strategy, and it’s labeled as (Restaurants Industry).  Folks, Level 3 is a telecommunications firm which barely survived the dotcom bust, the telecom meltdown (thanks to a billion dollar bailout by Warren Buffett).  IT’S NOT in the RESTAURANT BUSINESS.  Can you spell L-I-A-R?  Does this speak volumes as to how desperate Quiznos is and how no one will work for them who does have a brain?  Ms Steinfort has found a place to play with absolute immunity from prosecution!  Obviously, she couldn’t make it in the telecommunications market as Level 3’s stock topped out at $120.00 about the time Ms. Steinfort started, immediately dropped below $10 in a freefall, never to recover.  Today Level 3 is selling for a paltry $.95  (having realized a low of .76 the last 12 months).

So tell me people, wouldn’t you rather have someone selling your sandwiches whose background is in telecommunications?  And wouldn’t you rather it be someone who ran the previous company into the toilet (stock prices from $120.00 to $.016!)?  When is America going to wake up and realize that the franchisors and Madison Avenue are no different than Wall St., AIG or Bernie Madoff!  They’re the elite and you, main street America are the idiots falling for the ruse!  Prediction:  Quiznos will continue to be the “Sprint” of sub shops without any hope of being purchased (there’s only one Wal-Mart folks).  They will die a wikid slow death at the likes of boneheads like Ms. Steinfort and Mr. Schaden.

Bloody

What Can One Man Do?

Is anyone else tired of the spineless comments yet?  Comments won’t get it done. The brokers, franchisor-friendly lawyers and franchisors are quite happy with the status quo.  They have rarely come up against a threat they couldn’t stifle, muffle, silence or destroy.  Why is that?  Why haven’t we, the pitiful franchisee figured out how to get the franchisor the eff out of our lives? It’s not technology or the times, people.  The minutemen figured it out and they didn’t have cars, 401Ks or great academic degrees.  It’s not smarts people, it’s balls and a backbone!

Franchisees, we have no one to blame but ourselves.  We condemn the pigs of franchising and big box retailing, and we shop at Wal-Mart, Home Depot and McDonald’s.  We want the freedom without the cost!  We bitch and moan about the economy, yet we contribute to the tyranny.  Has anyone figured out that the freakin’ American Dream is a hoax?  The Declaration of Independence states:

“that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…” 

And oh how pissed we are when the franchisor can weasel out of every claim he made when he puts a contract in front of you that takes everything right mentioned above in the Declaration away from us!  And then we go to a generalist lawyer who knows nothing about franchising?  And then we give up when he fails, takes more of our money?

These are not conventional times.  Conventional means don’t work.  They haven’t for decades.  What makes you think they will today? People, if your faith is in the American Dream, Bernie Madoff, Mr. Stanford or President Obama, move on and surf somewhere else?  You don’t have balls or a backbone!  But for those of you who do, let’s get on with it!  Start by refusing to give these bastards any more of our money.  Stop fueling the big box boys and giving money to the franchise system.  Renegotiate your contracts and refuse to pay until your rights are restored! Start putting your franchisor on the hot seat and holding him accountable!  Isn’t it time you got something for your money, your sunk costs, your sweat?

Here are some numbers from the top 100 franchises of Entrepreneur Magazine – 2008 – you might want to consider:

• 215,768 US Franchise owners
• 11,102 Canadian Franchise owners
• 120,108 Foreign Franchise owners
• 346,978 Franchise owners in total

Average Franchisor has less than 10 executives and less than 100 employees – are you getting it people?

Franchisee Owners (just owners) – 346,978  v  Franchisors 10,000 total employees

The numbers are 29:1 in favor of the FRANCHISEE – Stand up and be counted!!!!!!!!!  It’s our money they’re taking, it’s our money they’re using to live their playboy lives, take bonuses to buy their fancy cars and yachts and mansions.  It’s our money they use to promote the brand and then tell you to get lost when they decide they want to go a different direction!  Check out the latest Domino’s commercial if you doubt me….every time you buy a domino’s special, you take money out of your neighbor’s pocket, your kid’s school budget and eseentially you rob your neighbor of a fair wage!

Bloody

Mr. Proforma’s (inaquest) response to BloodyFranchise on Bluemaumau

Note the comment placed on BlueMauMau.com by us at Bloody and the “inaquest” response.  The truth hurt so much that “inaquest” (my my, he hasn’t revealed himself while accusing us of being shameless to remain anonymous?) reacted somewhat vehemently with the standard “malcontent” argument.  Mr. Proforma, you know who you are and so do I.  The truth is painful and when it has the potential to touch your wallet, your reaction was quite predictable! 

You might want to listen to your in-house counsel, Mr. Kordel and be careful in the future.  Your character flaws and your temper are going to get you into trouble!  Your trademark email behaviors are well known amongst your Kool-Aid drinkers, as well as those who are sick and tired of making you wealthy for doing nothing while they work their asses off to make ends meet.

 

With regards to your comment: “he/she seems to be hell-bent on trying to destroy the institution of franchising”.  You are partially right.  We are hell bent on destroying the abuses of franchising of which franchisors of the lowest character (you and Mr. DeLuca) have concocted and executed at the expense of the indefensible over the last 30+ years.  I suggest you find an alternative before it’s too late because your fat ivory-tower days in the penthouse are numbered.  Your IQ is half of Bernie’s and they had no problem putting him away!

Franchising 2009  

Submitted by bloodyfranchise on Tue, 2009/02/24 – 17:46.

Mr. Wilkerson,

You have never seen what is going to happen to the franchise market in 2009! Things will happen even you with your vast knowledge will not have predicted. And quite frankly, I don’t know how you think financing opportunities will be difficult? With all of the predatory lending and illegal “capital equipment lease” contracts disguised as financing vehicles, there will be plenty of honest people losing their lives and their homes and their retirements to this fine industry which has fueled your existence we refer to as “franchising”.

“profitable wonder machine” – that’s for damn sure! Wonder is about all it’s capable of creating!

“Mom and pop will gain plenty of attention from franchisors in the care industries, including home and health, entertainment, education and physical fitness” – yet another bunch of marks for you to sell down the river!

“The business of franchising is literally the yellow brick road” – with wicked witches and a little wizard behind the curtain too!

Your Kool-Aid machine goes 24/7 I see…..

https://bloodyfranchise.wordpress.com/

bloody

Submitted by inaquest (not verified) on Thu, 2009/03/05 – 10:59.

hello all….bloody franchise is a nameless, shameless liar and malcontent. he/she seems to be hell-bent on trying to destroy the institution of franchising with malicious and false attacks on franchisors and their people at his blog and with persistent emails to people in organizations he wants to attack.

he/she attacks real people with real words but all the time refuses to expose hie/her real identity. my caution to you is to be very wary of any communications you have with him/her. his/her ONLY agenda is to destroy all who are part of the franchise family of franchisors and service providers.

hello bloody….we will find you. we will find out who you really are. and because of your malice, libesl and other counts we will seek all remedies the courts allow. you are a coward to hide behind an alias and attack real people. we will find you. and we will crush you. you are a coward. you are a liar. you are a loser. and if you have anything left to lose…you will lost it, too. that’s a promise.

Reply to Inaquest

Submitted by bloodyfranchise on Thu, 2009/03/05 – 16:55.

Did we touch a nerve? Reactions like yours mean we hit the mark…The truth really hurts doesn’t it?

Getting exposed for what you really do to people’s lives will be even more painful. Maybe they’ll have a cell next to Bernie or Mr. Stanford for you after sentencing.

Sincerely,

Bloody

2nd reply to Inaquest

Submitted by bloodyfranchise on Sat, 2009/03/07 – 14:27.

Hey Mr. Proforma…..yeah, we know you are behind inaquest – btw – another failed venture back in ’99 –

http://www.inaquest.com
What it offers: Business cards, letterhead, and other standard products; forms; gifts and promotional products.
What it’s good for: Customized marketing giveaways, like T-shirts and phone cards; graphic-design consultation.
Don’t waste your time on: Trying to figure out the site’s odd name, which panelists called meaningless, confusing, and hard to remember.  What our panel had to say: Some found inaQuest.com easy to use and appealing. “This site makes me want to buy something with a logo on it — and I don’t even need anything!” one panelist remarked. But another tester called the site “frustrating” and “a waste of time,” with sluggish page loads that slowed down his system.

http://technology.inc.com/internet/articles/200009/20135.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blood is in the Water – Here Come the Franchisors!

CHUM [chuhm] – noun

1. Decent upright and trusting citizens having been layed-off or downsized by corporate America   (in their effort to appease Wall Street, the rich, the elite, Political pundits & Capitol Hill) finding themselves in the overpopulated labor pool.  In possession of 401k savings, retirement and severance packages.
2. Veterans who have served our country who have returned and now find themselves in the job market but without the skill sets on their resume that corporate America chooses to accept.
   Synonym = franchisee

“CHUM-MING” [chuhmng] – verb

1. The art of writing a UFOC (Uniform Franchise Offering Circular) – pre 7/2008 now referred to as an FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document) in an effort to make an otherwise worthless business saleable to chum.
2. The art of luring chum into an indentured & subservient relationship with promises of ownership, independence and autonomy using terms such as [own your own business without the risk], [take less risk], [be your own boss], [work within a proven framework]. Commonly practiced by opportunists to create inflated revenues, building itself a low cost labor network to generate marketing dollars resulting in greater revenues. Only works within the framework of a franchise brand which was at one time overseen by the FTC (never a factor for franchisees) and has absolutely no regulation or oversight today.
3. Benefits include:
   1. Limited administration at headquarters – franchisees are treated like second-class citizens by corporate people who have never been in the business – mostly low level b-rated admin people or relatives of the chummers
      
   2. Huge cash flow as franchisees must give chummers royalty, advertising monies, vendor kickbacks (and anything else the chummer dreams up),  whether the chum prospers or not
   3. Living the life by simply buying more air time on national and local networks and sending the bill to the chum.
   4. corporate boxes at sporting events, playing golf on the PGA with pros, sponsoring NASCAR teams (all at the expense of those stupid franchisees we call ‘chum’).  Synonym – “franchising”
      

Origin: Singer Sewing Machine Company – 1800’s

Firms who paved the way to this model of abuse:  McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Subway, Pepsico, Coca-Cola, Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Cendant – now Realogy (Century21, Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s Real Estate, ERA, Better Homes & Gardens Realty), Wyndham, AAMCO, Blockbuster, Yum! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silvers, A&W) – and the list goes on and on and on.

And you thought those guys were just marketing genius’?  I think they attended Bernie Madoff’s alma mater.  Or perhaps Mr. Stanford’s school of investment?