In response to yesterday’s post CHRYSLER Dealers to Fight Closings, Franchise Pick reader Judy writes that Chrysler’s ploy is a shell game to make the American public think they have done something constructive through their bankruptcy filing in order to validate receiving bailout money.

Judy writes:

These dealerships are individually owned local businesses not Chrysler operations. These guys should be culled through economic attrition as is the American way, not notified they have to shut down in less than 30 days.

At least GM right now is winding down, not immediately terminating franchise agreements and they are also offering an appeal process to prove a dealer could stay by doing X,Y or Z. If a guy can operate his business with enough profit to satisfy himself, pay his bills, pay his taxes, pay his employees and support other local businesses and vendors, why should some company who should be more worried about cutting down their own operation expenses and restructuring their own debt tell him what he can and can’t do?

Dealers are not the reason Chrysler filed Bankruptcy sales dropping across the country by more than 46% is. So, limiting access to Chrysler products is not going to magically make them more desirable by the American public and make surviving dealers more profitable or competitive. Building better autos and improving consumer confidence will. This has nothing to do with dealers selling your product. It’s not even going to save them money in the long run because distribution costs to these dealers is minimal.

Further, why should some guy who has bought a Dodge truck want to travel out of his way to get it serviced or why would some guy want to drive out of his way just to purchase a Dodge truck? First thought will be if Chrysler is not loyal to its dealers, why would they be loyal to me. Second, thought is Joe Blow Ford is close to me now and they now support my little league team. More likely he will just switch products and purchase a Ford or GM made truck especially if the dealer is in his neighborhood or close to his office.

In this scenario, nothing will be gained in the short term for either Chrysler or GM to close dealers as market share will more than likely be lost to Ford. Chrysler’s ploy is a shell game to make the American public think they have done something constructive through their bankruptcy filing in order to validate receiving bailout money. It wouldn’t be the first time that some administration thought a policy was good and it later backfired.

Finally, do you think all franchise business owners in these great United States should be subjected to the possibility of their franchise agreements being cut because a manufacturer or producer has filed for bankruptcy, and suffer the same fate as being told they have less than 30 days to shut down their businesses or find another procuct to sell? This is not just about the automobile industry.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

image:  FranBest

According to the Unhappy Franchisee post CHRYSLER: Dealers to Fight Back, the Chrysler National Dealer Council has said that Chrysler dealers will soon launch their legal opposition to the company’s plan to revoke 789 franchise agreements.

Chrysler dealers to fight back

Chrysler is seeking the court’s permission to revoke 789 dealers’ franchises as part of its Chapter 11 restructuring. Chrysler is seeking to revoke dealer agreements on June 9, and to emerge within 6 weeks as a “new” Chrysler alliance with Italy’s Fiat.

According  CHRYSLER: Dealers to Fight Back, “Car dealers have long assumed that they are protected by the state franchise laws, many drawn up with the help of the dealers themselves… But Chrysler has asked the court to rule that the US bankruptcy code takes precedence over the state laws.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Photo credit:  Larry He’s So Fine License:  Creative Commons

According to a post on Unhappy Franchisee (Curves Franchisee Blames Economy for Closing), the Albany, MN Curves shut its doors for good, and franchise owner Carol Smith blames the recession.

Smith also owns another nearby Curves.  The Albany Curves had been open for six years; Smith had owned it for two years.  According to the post, Smith contends the economy was to blame for the membership decreasing from more than 100 two years ago to about 45 at the time of closing.

Is the recession really to blame?  Or the club doomed from the start?

A frequent complaint of struggling Curves owners is that the territories they were sold were too small to be viable long term.  A  quick search reveals that the population of Albany, MN is 2,095, and the female population is 1,124

If you subtract 25% for those under 18 or too old to join, you get a 843 total potential members.

Is this really enough population to support not one - but two - Curves clubs?  Is this economy to blame - or just the last inevitable nail in the coffin?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

According to Butterfly Life CEO Mark Golob, rumors of the women’s fitness chain’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

The rumors had been rampant in recent weeks as emails were not returned, phone lines to the corporate office had been disconnected, and the company website disappeared.

Stuart Goldman, managing editor of Club Industry’s Fitness Business Pro, managed to speak to Mark Golob today about the Butterfly Life mystery.  Golob said that the company was strong, though it had downsized and they had moved to a smaller office in San Ramon.  Golob stated that the website will be back online in the next 24 to 48 hours.

According to Goldman’s post:

“We are nowhere close to closing our doors or being out of business,” Golob says.

Butterfly Life is transitioning from a 30-minute club model to a neighborhood women’s fitness center, Golob says, testing the new model with personal training and live classes. Instead of being known as Butterfly Life Healthy Living Solutions for Women, the company is changing its full name to Butterfly Life Women’s Fitness Centers. The company is currently not selling franchises, although once it does, the goal is for the clubs to produce more revenue from personal training and the live classes, Golob says.

“Basically, what we’ve done is re-invented ourselves,” Golob says. “We didn’t want to sell franchises for something where people weren’t doing as well as they should. We’ll come out once this testing is done, and we’ll be selling franchises. I see a great need for a neighborhood women’s club with great classes, great equipment, low pricing.”

Golob would not comment on pending litigation against Butterfly Life involving past Butterfly Life franchisees.

An email reportedly sent last night, Butterfly Life Executive Director of Fitness Services Denny Marsico apologized for their servers being down for nearly 2 weeks, and for not notifying franchisees:

Hi All,

Due to the office move our server has been down for nearly 2 weeks. We are terribly sorry that the email we sent to notify you was not received by most.

However we are happy to say that we are up and running again.  We have many emails to work through, so please be patient as we get back to you over the next few days…. We will inform you as soon as our fax is in operation.

The email contained the new office address is 2415 San Ramon Valley Blvd. # 4158, San Ramon, CA 94583

The phone numbers included in the email appear to be personal cell phone numbers.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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FEATURED STORY:

TanWorld: Creating the Next-Generation Tanning Salon Franchise

OVERVIEW Interview with Tanworld V.P. Bob McQuillan

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Image courtesy of IdeaFarm.

(FranchisePick.com Franchise Blog) Related stories: Make & Take Gourmet: Meal Prep Franchisor Takes Failures in Stride, Patrons of Failed Franchise Blast Make and Take Gourmet Franchisor Bellso, Meal Prep Franchisor Blames Franchisees…

What a difference two months makes!

Back in June, Make & Take Gourmet franchise founder Michele Bellso was claiming that the tiny NY meal assembly franchise company was thriving. An Unhappy Franchisee post on Make & Take Gourmet quoted Bellso’s aggressive growth plans:

Michele Bellso, founder and president of Make & Take Gourmet, says the company isn’t even close to reaching its full potential. Since May 2006, the company has grown to include 15 stores in five Northeast states, including two in Onondaga County, six in Rochester and one in Auburn, Watertown, and New Hartford.

“…We are on track to have 100 stores in three years,” Bellso says…”

Bellso implied that the recent failures of several franchise stores were due to those who “think they’ll make a million in the first year…”

In fact, said Bellso: “The only thing that may have changed for us is to make a better selection of our owners.”

Two months later, Syracuse.com reports that Michele & Dave Bellso are closing one of their two corporate stores, the Make & Take Gourmet in Fayetteville, NY. According to the story:

The 2-year-old Make & Take Gourmet storefront kitchen in Towne Center at Fayetteville will shut down, leaving the founding store in Cicero and a handful of franchises still operating.

In an e-mail blast to customers this afternoon, Make & Take Gourmet founder Michele Bellso wrote, “With rising fuel and food costs coupled with a sluggish economy, Make & Take Gourmet Fayetteville cannot stay open and continue delivering the level of quality you’ve come to expect.”

Dave Bellso blames the closure on a “troubling convergence of circumstances” that include, in his words:

• “We had good customers out there, just not enough of them.”
• “We just don’t have the business out there,”
• “consumers habits have changed so much in the past three or four months.”
• “Summer months… are typically slow in this business.”
• “…Expenses were way too high out there.”
• “…we had that lease, they wouldn’t change…”

According to the Make & Take Web site, there are now 12 stores. Two Onondaga County franchise locations closed within weeks of each other this past spring.

Despite the shrinking number of stores, rumors of buy-back offers extended to franchisees and pending lawsuits from failed franchise owners, the Make & Take Gourmet website continues to promote its franchise opportunity:

Thank you for your interest in a Make and Take Gourmet franchise. Meal assembly kitchens are one of the hottest trends in the food industry…

We are excited to share this exciting, proven concept with you as Make and Take Gourmet grows. Become a franchisee and discover a fabulous opportunity to be involved with a company that is focused on being the innovator and leader of the meal assembly market.

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE BELLSOS & THE MAKE & TAKE GOURMET FRANCHISE? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MEAL PREP KITCHEN FRANCHISES? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Unhappy Franchisee: Franchising rumors, rants, controversies, issues, complaints & insider information you’re not supposed to know.

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For months now, FranchisePick.com readers have been warning that LA Weight Loss Centers will begin closing in the same manner that Pure Weight Loss centers closed before them:  with no warning and leaving members owed hundreds and thousands of dollars in prepaid services likely they’ll never and products they may never get.

Well, here come the closings:

LA WEIGHT LOSS: Multiple Centers Close in KY

LA WEIGHT LOSS: 4 Weight Loss Centers Closing in CO

LA WEIGHT LOSS: Terre Haute, IN Center Closed

LA WEIGHT LOSS: Evansville, IN Center Closes

Recent Postings:

LA Weight Loss Tosses Client Files in Dumpster

LA Weight Loss Center Closings Rumored (UPDATED)

La Weight Loss ex-employee warns of closings. Don’t prepay!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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America’s Next Top Franchises.

Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

Franchising’s Worst-Case Scenarios:

Unhappy Franchisee: Franchising rumors, rants, controversies, issues, complaints & insider information you’re not supposed to know.

(FranchisePick.com) Pure Weight Loss Adds Insult to Injury Part 1: Pure Weight Loss Members, out thousands of dollars from the company’s abrupt closure, have their refund claim forms returned as undeliverable. Add lost time, postage costs, aggravation.

Pure Weight Loss Adds Insult to Injury Part 2: Pure Weight Loss offers stranded members discounts to an program… a program not available in their area.

Announcing Pure Weight Loss Adds Insult to Injury Part 3: Bounced refund checks… and NSF bank charges.

On HOW MUCH DOES PURE WEIGHT LOSS OWE YOU? FranchisePick.Com contributor and ex-Pure Weight Loss (LA Weight Loss) member Kim Matunis writes:

I got a refund check for $84 (they owed me over $1000) and it bounced!! THe bank said the account it is written on was closed in December 2007. I am filed with the PA Attn. General’s office….hope we get somewhere.

I have no clue how much they owe exactly, bought extra weeks on sales, paid some regular weeks, they took my copy of my contract when I applied for the refund, so I do not even have that. Trying to get receipts and credit card statements organized.

GOd help us all

RECENT PURE WEIGHT LOSS POSTS:
February 25th, 2008 Did HONESTY Kill Pure Weight Loss? or LA Weight Loss: The Movie
February 22nd, 2008 Pure Weight Loss Meeting of Creditors Set for March 14
February 20th, 2008 Pure Weight Loss Employees Also to Suffering Losses
February 3rd, 2008 IS PURE WEIGHT LOSS VIOLATING HIPAA PRIVACY LAWS? (Part 2)
February 3rd, 2008 IS PURE WEIGHT LOSS VIOLATING HIPAA PRIVACY LAWS? (Part 1)
January 31st, 2008 Pure Weight Loss Adds Insult to Injury Part 2

WHAT DO YOU THINK? YOUR COMMENTS AND INSIGHTS ARE APPRECIATED.

PHOTO CREDIT: Marchivist.   Licensed under Creative Commons.

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