Down with Franchises!

[vince284]

That's the thing - people seek what is familiar even if they know it's trash. Hence the thriving authentic Mexican restaurant shuts down because a low-quality kinda-sorta-Mexican-style fast food joint opens up a mile away and people go there because they know what it is.

I agree that it’s more the familiarity that franchises thrive on. I don’t visit my local franchise eateries because I know my local restaurants. I don’t visit franchises/chains such as Applebee’s or Chili’s or many other bigger restaurant chains when I’m on vacation. However, when I’m on a business trip, or on a job site, I will stop in the local McDonalds and pick up some coffee and breakfast. Or stop at a Burger King for lunch and the full service restaurant chain for dinner. When I’m on vacation, it’s different. I ask for recommendations from the hotel, or check online to see what people are saying. When I’m on the road, I will stop at a chain or franchise because I know what to expect, and I will bypass the local greasy spoon even if it is better. I can agree that chain stores hurt the local economy, and they contribute little locally. However, the majority of franchises are locally owned and employ almost 10 million local people and there are franchises that are locally sourced. The real killer, is online stores. And I’m the first to admit using them a lot. From renting movies to buying food, clothes, shoes, you name it, this brings nothing to the local economy. From no local employees and to some no local taxes collected.

 

[Josiah]

McDonalds is an example of a FRANCHISE.... each restaurant is privately, independly owned and operated; typically by someone who lives in the community They are locally owned and operated.

Lowes, Walmart, Starbucks are examples of CORPORATE outlets, owned and operated by the corporation.

This thread is about franchises; locally owned and operated businesses that utilize a model. They are popular with business owners because they tend to be FAR more successful than pure "start ups" - the model simply works usually (consider the number of Mc Donald's restaurants that close within 5 years compared to some "mom and pop" restaurant) and because the franchise company does a LOT of market research (difficult and expensive for an individual to do), offers a lot of training and support (especially at opening and if the business gets into trouble) and has already figured out the menu, prices, etc - they don't have to reinvent the wheel (and likely not do so well). Yes, the result can be "cookie cutter" and often "generic" but as noted in this thread, that can be good AND bad. But this seems undeniable: franchises and corporate outlets extend a model that WORKS (no one buys a franchise for a business that fails) and the only reason some "mom and pop" business are pushed out is that local customers PREFERRED the franchise or corporate busness; no customer is FORCED to eat at Texas de Brazil rather than the mom and pop restaurant across the street. People vote with their feet (unless a socialist government prevents that). It's the basis of capitolism.

There are those who desire something more unique and can find alterantives that they determine to be better (or desired even if not better). I look for what is GOOD (and frankly could not care less if it's a franchise or corporate or a mom and pop) but this is much easier close to home where I have an opportunity to know the choices and of course easier today with Yelp and all the other internet tools.



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[vince284]

McDonalds is an example of a FRANCHISE.... each restaurant is privately, independly owned and operated; typically by someone who lives in the community They are locally owned and operated.



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Where I live we have several McDonalds that are corporately owned. According to data on McDonalds, the company owned 18% in 2016, that's 6,444 stores.

 

[Josiah]

Where I live we have several McDonalds that are corporately owned. According to data on McDonalds, the company owned 18% in 2016, that's 6,444 stores.

Yes, in many cases, the corporation retains some outlets. 18% in the case of McDonald's still means that 82% are privately owned and operated - often by a local businessman who lives in that community, belongs to the Chamber, is active in the community. BTY, the opposite is (rarely) also the case: Starbucks is a corporate business but a FEW outlets are locally licensed and operated (Disneyland has a Starbucks that is managed by Disney, the employees are Disney, Disney gets the profits - it's not technically a franchise but essentially is). And, don't assume that just because a local restaurant (for example) has a name you don't recognize that it's a mom and pop.... in the town where I grew up, there is a very popular restaurant everyone THINKS is a mom and pop that's actually a franchise of a Canadian corporation - they just give each restaurant a unique name and look.

IMO, being a franchise does NOT necessarily make the product/services worse than "mom and pop" stores. It DOES tend to make them more successful. But in both cases, typically they are locally owned and operated. Where I live, a family owns 4 or 5 McDonalds. They are very strong, very active Christians and supporters of a lot of Christian causes and events, including pro-life ones. And they are very active in the community. Here, these McDonald's are probably the most positive, active business contributor to our community. Outback Steakhouse is another franchise local business that does a lot. On the corporate side, Lowes stands out for it's grants and permitting employees to do volunteer work.


This thread is about franchises. Typically, they are locally owned and operated. As much so as any "mom and pop."




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