Another Reason........

To run from this franchise opportunity.

For the prospects, current and past franchisees who read this forum don't be suckered into this get rich quick scheme of MM's! After a franchisee in the far upper rural West decided to put a JC Penney catalog kiosk in her store, our wonderful franchisor blurts out that this is a wonderful opportunity for us all!  She goes on to tell us that this was a "test" store and it has been successful. People who are ordering (yes online in a Candy Bouquet store) are now realizing the store has been there for just over two years and are now buying other products when they place their JCP orders and when they pick up their JCP orders at the franchisees store.  Just amazing! Now, get this.  The best part of it all, our wonderful franchisor won't disclose the test stores due to privacy but she has been negotiating the best deal possible with them for US! Therefore, for those who like to do their due diligence, shame on us!  We just need to follow what our "Pied Piper" franchisor tells us to do.  Boy will this lady just lead us all to our demise! Churner, churner, churner!  We were informed that JCP has the information on the franchisee locations and if they feel we are in a good fit area to add a kiosk to our store, the wonderful opportunity will cost us $6,000!  Boy, oh boy!  We are in a downturn economy, most states are in a recession and now we have the opportunity to pay a "Big Box" the opportunity to take up square footage in our store! But need to mention, we may receive up to 12% of the sales made in our store and a small percentage if a person in our JCP territory orders online elsewhere!  WOW!  So, now we have the wonderful opportunity to offer everything from a lollipop, domestic house wares to lingerie - YES, we can now sell panties!!!  Without disclosing the "test store(s)" we just need to forget about the costs of this opportunity.  Never mind the sunk costs you already have but mostly just forget about the variable costs because if you follow MM's lead, you will just be successful.  Upon doing my math and playing with the numbers by creating scenarios if I was to add a JCP kiosk to my store - approximate loss of $16 per $100 sale!  Don't worry - have no intentions of doing such. 

Just recently, we found out that the "test" store has only been doing this for 3 weeks and made a commission of $500 so far. And did not even know that she was a test store because she did this on her own!  When doing the math, it will take about 2.5 years for the ROI which is the average lifespan of a Candy Bouquet franchisee.  So guess it is a good fit there!  Also, learned that JCP is closing down a good majority of their own catalog showrooms, saving them millions of $$$. Just go figure. Totally at a loss on how this is a good fit with the world’s largest (shrinking) candy store franchise?????  Wouldn't it just make better sense to co brand us with Hershey’s, M&M Mars, or another well known chocolate/candy brand and hook us up with FTD and Teleflora for wiring services?  Boy, oh boy oh boy.

But with all that said, this one is for Mr. Mufflerman, any Jiffy Lube franchisee and any Econolube franchisee:

What will the costs be to partner with any of you so that we can all get greased before we get screwed all the more????     

Looking forward to your quotes, because the Snake Oil we bought into is drying up fast!