Quiznos has announced that CEO Dave Deno has resigned and the franchisor’s founder and largest shareholder, Rick Schaden, is taking over the reins again as the chief executive. 

Deno had joined Quiznos as president in 2007 and became CEO last September.  The company statement said he resigned “for personal reasons.”  Schaden had stepped down from day-to-day operations in 2007 after growing the chain from 18 franchisees in 1991 to more than 5,000 today.

In a released statement, Schaden said:

“I am excited about working closely with franchise owners to improve restaurant operations. I also look forward to spending time with the outstanding Quiznos management team developing new products. Moving forward, our strategy will be exactly as it is today. Our primary focus will be on increasing restaurant profitability for our franchise owners by bringing value and convenience to consumers so that they frequent Quiznos more often.”

Quiznos is one of the most controversial major franchise players in the nation.  According to franchise site Blue Mau Mau:

The Quiznos system has been riddled with problems and litigation over the past seven years. According to some lawsuits, franchisees allege that the company has been engaged in illegal and deceptive business practices, inducing unwitting prospects to purchase and operate Quiznos stores. The documents state that with 4,636 franchises in the U.S. today, a number that is continuing to grow, Quiznos classifies the majority of its franchisees as financially distressed.

WHAT DO QUIZNOS FRANCHISEES, INVESTORS & PUNDITS THINK OF QUIZNOS & SCHADEN’S RETURN? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

If ever there were a group in need of an economic bailout, it would be the hundreds of victims of the most blatant franchise scam in recent history:  Cuppy’s Coffee.  Just in case any government official or agency cares (why start now?), there are three distinct groups of victims struggling to recover from their own financial Katrinas:

Cuppy’s Coffee “Depositers”:  As many as 100 or more individuals paid upfront construction deposits ranging from $29,500 to more than $100,000 that were to be returned if they failed to find a location or secure financing for the project;  however, when they requested their refunds they got nothingbut a runaround.

Cuppy’s Coffee “SNO-ed” Franchisees: Dozens of Cuppy’s Coffee depositers who were able to secure funding commitments from lenders for their $150K - $300K investments ended up in the industry category of “Sold Never Opened” (SNO).  Since the Cuppy’s construction entities (Elite Manufacturing, Supreme Building Technologies) were more efficient at collecting payments than paying subcontractors, fulfilling commitments, not getting sued  and avoiding bankruptcy, many SNO-ed franchisees ended up with unfinished sites, liens on equipment they paid for, massive debt and no coffee shops.

Cuppy’s Coffee “Orphan” Franchisees: The final group of Cuppy’s Coffee victims consists of those who somehow battled through the process, incurred extra expenses of $100,000 or more, and somehow managed to get their cafe or drive-thru unit opened despite the fact that the parent company and related entities have disappeared and the corporate officers seem to be in hiding.  Of course, the challenges facing these businesses are enormous, as they are burdened with extra debt and expenses while receiving none of the franchise support they were promised.

Despite the odds, orphaned Cuppy’s Coffee continue to open somehow.  Some recently opened locations include:

Cuppy’s Coffee - Wilmington, DE Claudia & Alan Robbins managed to open in November, 2008.

Cuppy’s Coffee - Eagle, ID Franchise owners Larry and Marci Addleston opened their cafe December 8, 2008

Cuppy’s Coffee - Clawson, MI Franchise owner Steve Ott opened January, 2009

Cuppy’s Coffee - Mansfield, OH Franchise owner Bill Lewis celebrated his Grand Opening February 6, 2009

[Photo, right, Claudia Robbins promoting her Cuppy's Coffee in Wilmington, DE with a local team mascot.  Claudia is the one on the left.  Photo courtesy Cuppy's Wilmington]

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH CUPPY’S COFFEE?  DO YOU HAVE A LOCATION TO LIST?  SHARE AN INSIGHT BELOW.

(FranchisePick.Com) Have you ever had a good friend or close relative join AMWAY (Mary Kay, Herbalife, Quixtar, Meleleuca, Shaklee, USANA, nuskin, or other mlm, multilevel or network marketing scheme) and suddenly become… ANNOYING?

Our post IS AMWAY A GREAT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY? prompted thirstyfox to share what happened when her sister joined AMWAY/QUIXTAR:

My sis was in it once, wasted all her time and in the end made little or nothing.

She got back into it recently against everyones advice.  It’s like a cult that turns you against your family so you don’t listen to them. Now she has no time for family, just scamming strangers and wasting her time away with unfullfilled dreams.

The constant meetings are to keep you brainwashed.   It’s all a scam and she knows it herself now as she tries to get others in “under her.”  Hard to see her as a Christian anymore when she does this, and it’s sad to see all the time she loses when she could be raising her kids.

I’ll never understand how she could be so stupid. I asked her why she got in it last time and she said of course money.  Then I asked her what she got out of it and she replied defensivly “I met a lot of very interesting people!”  I think that about says it all and if it didn’t work for my sis it won’t work for anyone.

All the BS they tell you about how well this that and the other person did or is doing is all lies so they can get your money.  98% of all Quixtar products are sold ONLY to stupid Quixtar members themselves, yet they go around saying they own a business???

Don’t give them a second of your time.

What do you think?  Does Multi-level “Network” Marketing make people annoying?  Is thirstyfox right that MLM consists of stupid members selling only to other stupid members?  Share your MLM story below.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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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

Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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

Image courtesy of IdeaFarm.

(Franchise Pick)

Read the Full Interview:

BUTTERFLY LIFE: Interview With Franchisee Matt Wilson

After attending a well-orchestrated sales seminar, Atlanta-area franchise owner Matt Wilson and his wife joined Butterfly Life with the dream of being their own boss, helping women improve their health, and getting a good return on their investment.  Once they opened their club, they claim they received no help or support in overcoming their branding and marketing challenges.  Their club closed in less than a year.

UnhappyFranchisee.com asked Matt to share the lessons of his experience, and his advice for prospective franchise owners.

UF: Matt, what was your background prior to joining Butterfly Life? Did you have industry experience?
MATT: My wife, who owned and operated our BFL franchise, has in excess of 20 years experience in a variety of customer service positions including 10 years with a major cellular communications company. For several years prior to our investment in a BFL franchise she was the office manager for a successful salon. For myself, I have 20 years experience working in a variety of sales, marketing, educational, technical and business management roles. Neither of us had experience in the women’s fitness industry, however, my wife has been a patron of competing club’s and national diet programs having lost 40 lbs as a result.

UF: When did you decide to join Butterfly Life? Describe the process.
MATT: After attending a franchise seminar in August 2006 in Atlanta, GA, conducted by Taylor Golob, Cheryl Hoke and via video conference, Mark Golob. Around the time of the seminar we were actively investigating a Curves franchise and saw a BFL seminar commercial on television. That led us to check out the company web site and sign up for the seminar. Taylor and Cheryl put on a first class, well rehearsed and choreographed sales seminar. Towards the end they incorporated connecting to Mark Golob via video conference, who delivered a rehearsed speech underscoring the points made by Taylor and Cheryl. When all was said and done it appeared the investment was a low risk, high return venture. Especially given that Atlanta was a burgeoning market for the brand and BFL appeared committed to developing the market for the long run.

The appeal for us and we believe with many investors, was with the prospect of being able to help women improve their health while being your own boss. The bonus was there was what seemed to be a good return on the investment. Reality was much different.  CONTINUE READING

Read Other Butterfly Life Franchisee Interviews:

BUTTERFLY LIFE: Jeff Marks, Ex-Franchisee

BUTTERFLY LIFE: Carol King, Ex-Franchisee

BUTTERFLY LIFE: Linda McBride, Ex-Franchisee

BUTTERFLY LIFE: Julie Franco, Ex-Franchisee

BUTTERFLY LIFE: Lisle Head, Ex-Franchisee

BUTTERFLY LIFE: Michael Motes, Ex-Franchisee

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

Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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

(FranchisePick.Com)  Also read:  LA WEIGHT LOSS: Widespread Closures Reported Across the Nation,  LA WEIGHT LOSS: The Closings Begin,  LA Weight Loss Rumors: What Have YOU Heard?

Over at WEIGHT LOSS COMPLAINTS, Suzy reports:

Just another FYI - The Temple, TX center closed last month and the Waco, Killeen, and College Station, TX Centers are due to close on September 26th.

Thanks, Suzy It’s been added to the list of LA WEIGHT LOSS closings.

See the unofficial*, updated LA Weight Loss store closing list here: LA WEIGHT LOSS CLOSING

* LA Weight Loss chooses not to comment on store closings, past present or future

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

______________________________________________

FEATURED STORY:

TanWorld: Creating the Next-Generation Tanning Salon Franchise

OVERVIEW Interview with Tanworld V.P. Bob McQuillan

Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

.

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

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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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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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) This is the latest in a series of guest posts on the Mary Kay cosmetics business opportunity.

This post is from SCAM, who blogs at Scam Types.

Are you a Mary Kay consultant? Ex-consultant? Customer? Ex-customer?

Please share you experience and opinion with a comment at the bottom of this post.

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Is Mary Kay Cosmetics a Scam Club for Girls? by Scam

‘You may think I’m foolish
For the foolish things I do..’
“Pink Cadillac” - Bruce Springsteen

Was the Boss singing about Mary Kay, a multi level marketing cosmetics organisation?

Of course not, but his lyrics may have some meaning to their business… let’s find out..

Mary Kay Ash

Mary Kay Ash was a mother of three in the 1930s. Her and her then husband often found it hard to make ends meet and so Mary began selling books to supplement the household income. During her first 6 months, she sold a remarkable $25,000 worth of books!

In 1938 she divorced her cheating husband and joined Stanley Home Products, selling via home parties. She was successful for 25 years and enjoy selling. However, she felt that women were underpaid compared with their male counterparts. She also felt that her good ideas for the company were ignored and rebuked, purely because she was a woman.

After retiring, she began to write books for women, designed to aid them with the challenges they faced in the workplace. Compiling 2 lists, one detailing the positives about companies and the other detailing the negatives, Mary Kay Ash began to realise that she was listing the qualities that could be used to form what she thought would be the perfect company.

With her life savings of a few thousand dollars, she began Mary Kay Cosmetics 13th September, 1963. With the help of one of her children, Richard Rogers, she was able to build the company up to the point of having over half a million independent beauty consultants who host parties and give demonstrations as they sell the company’s perfumes and cosmetics. In 1996 retail sales hit the $2 billion mark.

MLM

Mary Kay Cosmetics sells it’s products through multi level marketing, much like Arbonne, for example. As I looked for figures to determine how much product is sold by each consultant on average I discovered that Mary Kay Cosmetics is extremely secretive about such information. I would have to wonder why.

Multi level marketing involves selling products primarily, often with bonuses or commissions for recruiting new distributors, or consultants. On the other hand, a pyramid scheme, which is illegal, puts most or all of it’s emphasis on earning through recruitment, with any product sales being very much secondary to that cause.

Which category does Mary Kay Cosmetics fall into?

If you check out their website then you will see that the company is most definitely selling products, but are they viable?

The detractors of Mary Kay will highlight that they are not very competitvely priced. Not being the type of man who wears cosmetics, I couldn’t possibly have an opinion on that - perhaps some of the ladies could comment on price competitiveness? If products really are overpriced then that may push people into having to recruit to make any money, whether by accident or by design.

The majority of comments I found across the internet suggest that most Mary Kay consultants are not making much money - in fact several have lost money and those in profit are making only a couple of hundred dollars per year. Of course, these figures are subjective and open to interpretation - low earnings could be deliberately misquoted by those who are anti-MLM or disgruntled ex-consultants. Likewise, business takes hard work and it could, perhaps, be argued that the low earners don’t have what it takes.

Other criticisms include the fact that Mary Kay pushes an almost cult like belief that negativity has no place in their organisation. This means that only positive comments are given any credence and any consultant who highlights their failings risks being ostracised.

Also, at the time of recruitment, there are many stories of new consultants being required to but inventory. Of course, this sounds perfectly legitimate - how else do you sell cosmetics if you don’t have any stock? However, there are a lot of reports of pushy directors who try and get their new recruits to but the largest package of stock ($4,800 worth) rather than the minimum $600 package. Presumably, this is because they then earn a much bigger commission cheque?

There are also comments about how moving up the ladder within Mary Kay is dependent upon sales volumes. Again, this isn’t strange - the more successful people always rise to the top in any business venture. However, there are reports about people buying huge amounts of inventory, solely to gain promotion. Doesn’t sound quite right does it??

Pink Cadillacs

Some time ago, Mary Kay hit upon the idea of leasing cars to it’s consultants and directors. A great piece of marketing for the company.. who does it really benefit?

From what I can make out the consultant, who is at the low end of the scale, receives a car as long as they continue to generate $4,500 per month in revenue. Should they ever fall below this level then they will suddenly start getting billed $375 per month until they get their revenue back up to the prescribed level again.

Considering all the conditions, qualifying amounts and provisos of first obtaining the car, it can be said that a mere consultant will need to have generated $130,000 in revenue before being able to drive their red Pontiac Vibe.

That figure increases to $576,000 for a director who wishes to have the pink Cadillac.

I guess that means you have to work pretty damn hard to get to lease a car for ‘nothing’.

Conclusion

As with most of these MLM companies that I look into, nothing is ever crystal clear (in most cases).

I expect any comments below to be split between those who have been burned by Mary Kay and those who are reputedly making a good income from it.

It would be fair to say that those pushing recruitment ahead of retail sales may be individuals looking to make money rather then people following any company guidelines.

I personally would stop short of calling Mary Kay Cosmetics an illegal pyramid scheme, however, I believe they are an MLM through which hard working women are likely to see very little return on their investment.

That’s my opinion… what do you think?

Verdict : Probably not a scam, but probably not a winner either.

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Scam is a retail manager from London. England. After a good friend of his fell prey to an email scam he decided to write about internet safety and security on his blog, Scam Types.

If anyone would like to print a rebuttal or offer an alternative article, please email Sean at info[at]ideafarm.net

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

Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities..

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

(Top New Franchises) Have you ever been involved with “direct sales” aka multi-level marketing (MLM)? Which one?

Amway? Avon? Cutco Knives (Vector Marketing) Equinox? Forever Living? Goji Juice? Herbalife? Juice Plus? Longaberger Baskets? Mannatech? Mary Kay? Meleleuca? National Safety Associates (NSA)? Nu Skin? Primerica? Quixtar? Shaklee? Tahitian Noni? Tupperware? USANA Health Sciences? VitaMark? Watkins Incorporated? World Financial Group?

What was your experience like? Did you make money? What was your most unforgettable experience?

Do you still sell via multilevel marketing?

Is multilevel marketing a scam or a legitimate but misunderstood marketing method?

Which is the best MLM program? Which is the worst?

WHAT DO YOU THINK? ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

__________________________

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

Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities..

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

(Top New Franchises) AMWAY or SCAMWAY?

With a brutally tough economy, record high foreclosures and widespread personal financial woes, many are looking for additional ways to earn some cash or start a new business. That means it’s boom time for those who are hawking business opportunities and multilevel marketing schemes. But what is MLM fact and what is MLM fiction?

AMWAY is arguably the most successful (or at least best known) “direct sales” organization in history. Yet there is so much negativity around the AMWAY name that much of the AMWAY website is dedicated to dispelling “What you may have heard” from AMWAY detractors.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? IS AMWAY A LEGITIMATE DIRECT SALES ORGANIZATION HELPING INDIVIDUALS REACH THEIR POTENTIAL - OR A BIG SCAM? HAVE YOU EVER SOLD AMWAY? WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE?

COMMENTS - PRO & CON - INVITED BELOW.