Franchise Business Opportunities

Franchising.com:

Rockwell Group Europe (”RGe”) has teamed up with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide to design the W Paris-Opéra, W Hotels’ debut in France. Diego Gronda, Managing and Creative Director of RGe, the Madrid satellite office of New York’s Rockwell Group founded by David Rockwell, is leading the design team on this innovative project scheduled to open in 2011. Owned by Barcelona-based Meridia Capital, the hotel occupies an elegant 1870s Haussman-era building located across the street from the famous Opéra Garnier and near Galeries Lafayette and Place Vendome in the 9th Arrondissement. Taking the inspiration from combining New York’s energy, where the W brand began in 1998, and Paris, the “City of Light,” RGe is flooding the new W Hotel with illumination and color.

“Taking the W brand into Paris, the European capital of fashion, will mark a true milestone in W’s global expansion into the world’s most exciting and vibrant destinations,” said Eva Ziegler, Global Brand Leader, W Hotels Worldwide and Le Méridien. “Through W Paris-Opéra, we will further demonstrate our passion for fashion as well as our leadership in cutting-edge design, setting the stage for W’s unique lifestyle programming, which will make W Paris the coolest place in the city.”

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The new vision for Malta’s beverage giant

Business Today:

In a no-holds-barred interview, Charlot Zahra speaks to Norman Aquilina, the recently-appointed Farsons CEO-Designate, about the company’s performance in spite of the economic recession, his priorities for the company, and the possibility of more early retirement schemes following those already offered.

You have been only a few months in the job. What is your first assessment of the Farsons Group and its employees?
My first assessment is clearly that Farsons is a Group which offers a lot of potential. We have a tremendous heritage behind us but most of all lots of opportunities ahead of us.

We have already achieved a lot but, of course, there’s still a lot more to be done, more so today because competition is so intense and we obviously need to make that extra effort to counter these competitive pressures.

In terms of employees, there is a wealth of experience, a lot of know-how has been built over the years, and it is obviously very important that we maximise on this and get the best out of each and every person within the Group.

Which are those areas within the Group whose performance you are satisfied with? Could you elaborate more in this respect? Read full interview.

Forbes:

On a recent homecoming weekend at the University of Wisconsin’s Whitewater campus, home to 10,000 students, the intersection of Main Street and Center Street was swollen with bar-hopping students. At closing time, 2:15 a.m., the munchies kicked in, and Toppers Pizza, the one joint in town open till 3, was there to serve.

“On Homecoming Saturday, we served about 700 orders,” says Matt Ziemann, 27, manager of Toppers’ flagship store in Whitewater. “We had upwards of 50 people packed into the lobby from 1:30 a.m. to 3 a.m.”

The crowds can get pretty rowdy. On one occasion, a particularly rambunctious group pulled the bathroom sink out of the wall. Ziemann has since made an adjustment: “I put my biggest employee, a six-foot, five-inch 275-pound dude right in front of the counter to make sure things ran smoothly.”

WA today:

NO, NO, NO, another friggen inquiry !!!!”

Short and to the point – a bit like the news the sender of the e-mail was referring to when he contacted me yesterday afternoon.

The Perth man is one of a host of people who’ve had their lives ruined by a failed franchise operation. What appeared to be a great business opportunity turned sour.

He’s gone through a hell no one should have to endure. And like many of his ilk, he wants to see that what happened to him can’t happen to anyone else.

So, like all those others across Australia, he patiently waited for the Federal Government to announce what, if any, of the recommendations of a joint parliamentary inquiry into franchising it would implement. Read on.

Franchising.com:

Four Wyndham Resorts have collaborated to offer a vacation package giving travelers the option to visit multiple sunny destinations for one price. The “multiVACATION” package offers guests nine nights in one or more destinations during one or more visits in 2010 for less than $145 per person, per night.

Priced at $1,299 per person, the multiVACATION package is on sale through Nov. 16, 2009, for stays through Nov. 30, 2010, at the Wyndham Nassau Resort in the Bahamas, Wyndham Orlando Resort in Florida, Rio Mar Beach Resort and Spa, a Wyndham Grand Resort in Puerto Rico and Grand Bay Hotel – Isla Navidad Resort, a Wyndham Grand Resort in Mexico.

“With more travelers opting for multiple, smaller trips, our multiVACATION package offers a year’s worth of vacations at one low price,” said Bill Scanlon, senior vice president of sales, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. “This exclusive offer allows travelers to lock in current 2009 prices for the 2010 travel year and gives guests the options to visit several of our most popular resort destinations for one low price.” Carry on reading.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The former Lena’s supermarket at 709 E. Capitol Dr. will become a Piggly Wiggly store, the Sheboygan-based chain said Thursday.

The store will be operated by a franchisee who has not been identified. It will occupy 45,000 square feet in the 89,000-square-foot building, said Gary Suokko, chief operating officer for Piggly Wiggly.

A.J. Wright and Citi-Trends, apparel chains that have several locations in the city, will take the remaining space in the building. Lena’s, a small local chain owned by the Martin family, closed the store in July 2008. The store was a Jewel supermarket before Lena’s took over the location.

An opening date has not been announced for the new Piggly Wiggly, which will be the only one in the City of Milwaukee for the chain.

The Franchise Magazine:

Commercial investigations franchise London House has announced the agenda for its 2009 Franchise Owner Conference, which is to take place at Whittlebury Hall near Silverstone on 26th and 27th November.

Speakers at the event will include author and professional speaker Derek Arden, who coached members of ‘Survival Street’ on ITV in August and will provide a presentation on ‘Leading edge negotiation skills’; Jon Orritt, head of the insolvency and recovery team at Barclaycard Payment Acceptance who will discuss ‘The relationship between Banker and Investigator’; and John Edwards, current Chairman of the World Association of Professional Investigators who will share his thoughts on ‘Investigating internationally’.

Nation’s Restaurant News:

Papa John’s International Inc. upped its expectations for annual earnings by two cents per share as the company said it has seen positive transaction momentum, market share gains and improved restaurant profitability.

The company, which operates or franchises 3,458 pizza restaurants worldwide, increased its annual per-share earnings guidance to between $1.42 and $1.46, up from previous expectations of earnings between $1.38 and $1.44 per share.

The 2009 guidance includes a negative impact of 35 cents from franchisee-support incentives celebrating the chain’s 25th anniversary, as well as restructuring costs from a round of layoffs at the company’s Louisville headquarters in September.

In 2008, the company reported earnings of $1.68 per share.

“The investments we have made in our system over the last 12 months continue to pay dividends for our brand, including in the areas of positive transaction momentum, market share gains and restaurant profitability,” said John Schnatter, the chain’s founder, chairman and chief executive.

Australian Food:

One of Australia’s leading franchise experts has joined up-and-coming franchisor Spudbar as they embark on their growth strategy.

Simon McNamara, the Founder of Viva Juice – a company he later sold to Boost, and a founding shareholder of the rapidly expanding burger business, Grill’d, will join the baked potato chain as a Business Partner.

Spudbar is a food concept that was developed in 2000 offering baked potatoes with gourmet toppings.

Spudbar CEO Kirsten Roberts was delighted to announce McNamara’s appointment as they prepare for a busy year of expansion. “I am very excited to be working alongside someone with such proven abilities as Simon, and welcome the opportunity to tap into his experience as Spudbar embarks upon this period of rejuvenation and growth,” she said.

The company is forecasting 30% growth in year-on-year same store sales in 2009/2010 and is also aiming to double the number of stores from 13 in the next 12-18 months. Read more.

Entrepreneur.com:

Last summer, when the butcher paper came off the windows at the former Starbucks in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, locals found a narrow little cafe called 15th Ave Coffee & Tea, serving espresso pulled from a manual La Marzocco machine by hipster baristas with a flair for latte art. Drip coffee is made cup by cup from small-batch-roasted beans brewed in an $11,000 ceramic-filtered Clover machine. The pastries come from the local Essential Baking Co. One wall is papered over with pages from Plato’s dialogues, and the chairs were salvaged and refurbished from other cafes. The communal table is made from weathered ship timbers, and even has a notch where the mast used to poke through. Every morning, there’s a “cupping,” a tasting of some of its more exotic brews.

With so much to admire at 15th Ave, it’s easy to miss the “Inspired by Starbucks” tagline stenciled on the front window–yep, the new cafe is still a Starbucks and it still serves coffee made from its ubiquitous beans (though there’s more variety and some extra TLC at 15th Ave). Full article.