.
 Rockabilityby Nancy WeingartnerRock star, concert promoter and celebrated restaurateur team up for Rock & BrewsThe stucco walls, primed a Pepto-Bismol pink, were slowly giving way to the topcoat, a robust red hue. Potted succulents lined the sidewalk, awaiting planting. A mature, fruitless olive tree, rescued from Disneyland for $2,000, dangled precariously from a crane lowering it into a prepared hole where the parking lot meets the building's entrance. Flat-screen TVs were hoisted into high places, picnic tables arranged and window glass installed. The "marquee," spelling out Rock & Brews, was lifted into place above the street-corner entrance. read more No WaitingQuick-serve chains zoom to serve lifestyles with 'velocity'by Jonathan MazeAmericans will sit hours a day in traffic, but famously won't wait for their meals, a big benefit for some segments of the restaurant industry. Quick-service restaurants have been taking market share from their full-service cousins for years, and now, following years of recession, they finally appear to be overtaking them. read more Getting SocialCuring the world's ills using franchising and IFA resourcesby Nancy WeingartnerNot every company that joins the International Franchise Association is privy to members of a sanctioned task force sitting down with it for a day to help improve its franchise operations. But PSI (Population Services International) is a special member. read more |
|
|
NEW DIGITAL EDITION! OTHER MAY FEATURES |
|
Liberty Harper IFA2012: Franchising Gives Back
Franchising Gives Back launches in Orlando, the host city for the 52nd IFA Annual Convention. Harper talks about dozens of convention attendees who dedicate time, muscle and get hands-on at the Orlando Health & Rehabilitation Center, a large nursing facility; a place that about 50 veterans call home. Their service to country dates back to World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
Other Franchise Times Videos...- Nicole Hudson IFA2012 Insights: Facebook Parent-Child Acceptance
- Mary Jo Larson IFA2012 Insights: Franchise Financing
See more videos >>
- Nicole Hudson IFA2012 Insights: Facebook Parent-Child Acceptance
- Mary Jo Larson IFA2012 Insights: Franchise Financing
See more videos >>
April, 2012
|
Seasonal Strategies
by Nancy Weingartner
Tacky Jacks raises the bar in the 'Redneck Riviera'
The first few times Mississippi businessman George Skipper visited Tacky Jacks as a tourist to Alabama's Gulf Shores region, he had to employ his newly acquired bartender skills. Cokes and beers were a dollar each, and if no one was tending bar, patrons deposited money in a coffee can, then went behind the bar to retrieve their liquid refreshments from a cooler. After tending bar for the family, Skipper and his four sons retreated to the deck to watch the boats go by.
The restaurant/bar was-and still is-a quirky mainstay in the tourist area that some disrespectfully call "The Redneck Rivera read moreOther April features...
March, 2012
|
Engineering the stone age
by Nancy Weingartner
Granite Transformations' Mark Johnson
Not many franchises can claim to manufacture, sell and install their proprietary product, but Granite Transformations has engineered a way to be environmentally friendly, as well as a customer magnet.
To get from Point A, Granite Transformations' headquarters in Miami, to Point B, its factory in Sebring, Florida, one has to drive past a lot of orange groves (seen one, seen 'em all) and through endless miles of nondescript Everglades and non-coastal views. read moreOther March features...
February, 2012
|
Trade Secrets
by Nancy Weingartner
A behind-the-scenes look at the Vietnam/Indonesia franchise trade mission
There are superfluous things you'll learn on a trade mission to Vietnam and Indonesia that are side notes-the fun facts that make international travel so fascinating. But the true value of a U.S.
Commercial Service-sponsored trip comes from the business matchmaking, the contacts with high-ranking officials in the countries visited and the invaluable information delivered by local industry experts. And don't discount the camaraderie and best-practices collected from the other trade mission participants.
After attending a similar trade mission to India earlier in the year, Franchise Times read moreOther February features...
January, 2012
|
Souper Sales
by Nancy Weingartner
Celebrities bowled over by Original Soupman's tasty product line up to spoon-feed the concept to the public
Basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal has 24-Hour Fitness franchises, along with Five Guys Burger and Fries and a handful of others-"I don't like to brag about what I have," the 7'1", 375-lb., former all-star told us-so why invest and become the pitchman for The Original Soupman?
"I tasted it one day," he said. "It's a good product with a great team. My favorite is the lobster bisque...it has lobster chunks."
OK, we can see a big man like Shaq liking to put his money where his spoon is, but why did Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson join the board and become a spokesman for the brand?
read moreOther January features...
