Some Comments Sent to Federal Trade Commission

   Is franchising fair? All sides weigh in

From the article:

"An Idaho McDonald’s franchisee, Kyle William, wrote about the perils of non-compete agreements in franchising contracts. The FTC’s proposed ban on new and existing non-compete clauses wouldn’t directly impact franchisors—at least not yet.

Williams wrote that his contract explicitly states that if the agreement expires or is terminated, he cannot operate a similar business for 18 months in the area. His 14 restaurants have terms of 10 or 20 years, and once those expire, McDonald’s can decide whether to renew the contract. “If I am required to relinquish my franchise during or after the end of the contract term, the non-compete clause in the McDonald’s contract makes it impossible to use my experience to operate, work for, or invest in another similar business,” William wrote."

Interchange Not Just for Freeways Anymore

Visa, Mastercard plan to hike credit card fees

Raise Overtime Cutoff by 55%?

Biden wants to raise overtime threshold - Restaurant Business

 

Gender Confusion is a Drag for Everyone

Time to catch up with the Bud Light disaster.

Advertising, marketing, and creative people are kind of flaky, aren't they?

Once in a while, you find a gem like Larry Light, but in general, these people live in a world of fantasy. The business leaders who pay the bills need to keep a close eye on them. Apparently, client AB InBev did not keep a close eye on Captiv8.

Fortunately, companies like McDonald's have an army of franchise owners to keep an eye on the agencies.

Eventually, the agency gets exposed to the real world, and things fall apart, much like what's happening at Captiv8.

Captiv8 throws staffers under the bus after cross-dresser promotion 

Paper Straws Could be Worse Than Plastic

Paper straws contain toxic "forever chemicals"

Coming Soon to 48 States Near You

Blink Charging partners with Arcos Dorados in Puerto Rico   

Ten Big Restaurant Deals

Ten biggest restaurant acquisitions - Maze

What, Me Worry?

"Carmen Caruso, a lawyer for Peaster, said he looks forward to bringing the surviving claims to trial."

McDonald's and Mr. K must face ex-executive's race bias claim

Turnover at NLRB

"The NLRB’s August agenda also includes finalizing regulations to expand the factors that can trigger a joint-employer finding. The rule, proposed nearly a year ago, would eliminate the stricter joint employment standard established by the Trump-era board."

Pro-Union shift expected with labor board memeber's exit

 

Adventure in Spaces

As restaurant chains look to smaller real estate sites and  facilities various levels of government will come along and demand EV charging spaces, which will sit empty 99.9 percent of the time.

Or will such decisions be made by internal corporate do-gooders?

Will the charging equipment and electrical upgrades be part of the equipment package and charged to the franchisees?

Will those who see such initiatives as sales builders eventually lose their jobs?

After the national EV initiative fails, will the franchisees be required to bear the cost of removing the charging equipment?

A Look at Taco Bell’s New Go Mobile Design

                     Taco Bell Go Mobile - Slideshow by NRN

Jonathan Maze on PACE Changes

"There's more work to be done" - NOA Chair

Bloomberg on PACE Changes

Failing Operators have a quicker path to recovery?

Taco Bell Growth Plans

Taco Bell target - 10,000 USA stores - NRN reports

As Predicted by FEG - ESG Fading Away

McDonald's removes "ESG" from parts of website

McDonald's Customers Are Always Right

Beyond Meat revenue plunges amid fall in demand

 

WSJ on QSR Dining Rooms

"A number of U.S. McDonald’s operators in 2018 formed the National Owners Association, an independent group to help advocate for franchisees’ interests. The group has pushed back at the burger chain on some of the remodeling requirements. 

U.S. franchisees are expected to freshen up their dining rooms, front counters and bathrooms with approved designs every 10 years, according to company documents. Equipment for the remodels averaged $350,000 last year, according to the documents. A full update can cost as high as $750,000, owners said."

www.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-burger-king-fast-food-dining-in

This Just In: From Anonymous

Fellow owners the NFLA is absolutely useless! They are beholden to McDonald's Corporation (because the corporation pays all their bills), and they have proven time and time again that they have no power and that they are captive to McDonald's. McDonald's has even limited the number of times they may meet per year!

The NOA, (which now represents over 1000 owners), was born out of the failure of the old NLC and the NFLA to act. The NLC approved the BBV 2020 agreement, and even after seeing the errors of the agreement, the NFLA was not able to negotiate ANY significant changes. There is no "partnering" for the upcoming mandatory 10 year remodels (which can cost up to $750,000.00). We are discarding perfectly good seating and fixtures which currently only serve about 10% of our customer sales. The company has succeeded in shifting costs from its own financial statements to those of the owner operators. And the company is enjoying record sales and profits, while owner cash flow shrinks!

 Meanwhile, today, we still have PACE, the Archways to Opportunity costs betrayal (where McCafe supermarket sales were supposed to fund the Archways scholarships but aren't), Rent and service fees on 3rd party delivery fees,  the draconian new franchising rules and qualified to buy requirements, the tech fee debacle (where NFLA settled for a pittance of what we were actually responsible for which was ZERO according to their own NFLA accountants),  VOICE being used in franchising decisions (even though Jim Johansson said they would never use it), etc.etc.  McDonald's refusal to negotiate at all with owner operators on any significant issue continues to this day, and the NFLA is silent.

The NFLA has outlived its usefulness (if it ever had any) and should be dissolved and replaced by a truly independent, self -supporting owner advocacy group.

Big Investors: ESG Is an Underperforming Fad

Any corporation that continues to focus on ESG is actually being run by left-wingers who are trying to hide their liberal agenda from investors.

"ESG has morphed from risk management to political activism for the left"

QSI = Quick Service Inflation

Did fast-food chains raise prices too much? - Maze

Facebook's Zukerberg's McDonald's Diet

Meta founder reveals typical McDonald's order