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Franchising in the News
Undercover Boss Canada doesn’t debut until Thursday night, but it’s already making a major impact on the nation. Or at least, the nation’s morning cups of joe. Second Cup CEO Stacey Mowbray is one of the 10 heads of homegrown companies who will be featured on the Canadian spinoff of American series Undercover Boss. The Canadian edition, like its Stateside counterpart, has bosses donning elaborate disguises to spend a few days in the lives of their employees.
The Edo Japan quick-service restaurant concept and brand is widely recognized by consumers, with 30 years of profitable operation and more than five million meals served each year through its 80 stores, many of them franchises, in North America.
For much of his adult life, franchise industry veteran Edward Loyst has spent his free time carving and building with stones. His hobby has cost him upwards of $65,000 since he discovered an abandoned rock quarry tucked away in a farmer’s field near his northern Ontario cottage.
When you're running a business, don't ever lose touch with the front lines. It's a credo that Pizza Pizza chief executive Paul Goddard has long championed. But when he agreed to star in an episode of the TV show Undercover Boss Canada, he got a rare opportunity to view the business from an entirely different perspective.
The Subway franchise of sandwich restaurants is planning a huge expansion in the British Isles to capitalize on the locals’ growing appetite in straitened times for cheap food on the go.
IRVINE, Calif. -- Taco Bell will begin catering to early birds with a breakfast menu, the Tex-Mex fast-food chain announced Thursday.The new menu, dubbed "FirstMeal" will feature 11 new items, including sausage, bacon and egg breakfast burritos, hash browns, and a grande skillet burrito.
Booster Juice has grown from its start as a little smoothie shop in Sherwood Park to more than 300 locations around the globe, including the upcoming opening of two locations in Curitibia, Brazil.
Eating out doesn’t have to be a challenge for the health-conscious, says Ron Simard, National Director of Operations for Extreme Pita. The franchise “caters to healthy living,” he says - posting all of its nutritional information, from calories to carbs, at each restaurant; offering 10 pita combinations with 3 grams of fat or less; and a number of Heart-healthy “Health Checked” combos, including the entire kids’ menu.
Each week, the Financial Post revisits CBC's previous week's episode of Dragons' Den. Mary Teresa Bitti captures what the cameras didn't and in the process provides a case study for readers, zeroing in on what pitchers and dragons were thinking and what the challenges for the deal are going forward.
A Canadian success story, Uniglobe Travel is the world’s largest single brand retail travel franchise company with more than 750 locations in 60 countries. Annual system-wide sales volume tops $5 billion.
Just call them Fantastique Sams. Actually, the Fantastic Sams Hair Salon chain is not changing its name after its purchase last week by the French company Dessange International. And it's not leaving Beverly, either. With more than 1,200 hair salons in 46 states and more than 13,000 salon employees, Fantastic Sams is one of the largest hair-care franchises in the world. But few people probably know that its corporate headquarters is on Dunham Road in Beverly, between The Salem News and North Shore Music Theatre.
Two Nova Scotia business owners have conquered the dragons and walked away with a heavy-hitting investor that promises to take their Massage Addict brand nationwide. Eight months after the original taping, Lori MacKenzie and Chris Harker’s appearance on CBC-TV’s Dragons’ Den aired Wednesday to reveal the pair had secured a $125,000 deal with Canadian business magnate Jim Treliving.
Boston Pizza is once again giving Canadians the finger. The casual-dining chain has re-introduced the “Finger Cooking” campaign it debuted in 2010 to support what vice-president of marketing Alan Green described as a “ground-up rebuild” of BostonPizza.com.
I have written here before about the importance of franchisors updating disclosure documents on an annual basis. The start of the year may be a good time to make new year’s resolution to implement certain changes to your franchise agreements, as well. As industry standards and legal developments evolve, the following are updates that may need to be made to franchise agreements to ensure enforceability:
Are you planning to buy a franchise in 2012? Here are a few pointers that might help you with your deliberations, from a legal perspective.
Since 1976, The Little Gym has fostered experiential learning through physical programs that provide opportunities for kids to explore their own potential and to better understand and enjoy the world around them. Now, for the first time, children from the Maritimes will be able to share in this experience.
THE DEAL'S IN: Nurse Next Door principals John DeHart and Ken Sim met 10 years ago this month. But the man who put them together and green-lit their international home-care company just missed the anniversary. Former investment-firm head Milton Wong died at age 72 on Dec. 31, six months after telling friends and colleagues that inoperable cancer would see him spend his remaining time as "a modern-day monk."
Slogging through the drudgery of a day’s work, most employees have probably dreamed about seeing their bosses get their hands dirty doing the nitty-gritty tasks that help their companies run smoothly. That would explain the success that CBS reality Undercover Boss, which debuted in February 2010 to 38.6 million U.S. viewers. And now, with the American series unfurling its third season this Sunday (8 p.m. ET), W Network and Alliance Films have announced they will broadcast a Canadian version of the show in February.
When it comes to the fast-food restaurant sector, hamburgers reign supreme and that highly competitive business is getting a little more crowded in Canada. California-based Carl’s Jr. is expanding north, with its first location open in Kelowna, B.C., and up to 450 more locations planned across Canada.
With the new year effectively beginning this week, those of us in Canada’s franchise community will likely see the addition of one more province that regulates the Canadian franchise industry.
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| Copyright 2012. Canadian Franchise Association. |
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