After spending years in the retail industry, Jim and Caroll Joyner were looking to leave the corporate world, but were still too young to retire completely.
About three years ago, they started looking into franchise business possibilities and hooked up with Long Beach-based coffeehouse chain It’s a Grind.Liking what they saw, they moved from San Jacinto to the Coachella Valley and became the area’s first It’s a Grind franchisee, setting up what has become a steady draw for java lovers on Monterey Avenue in Rancho Mirage.
“We both like dealing with people, and we found this would be a good way to keep doing that,” said Jim Joyner, 54, who now resides with his wife in Indio.
Current and prospective business owners seeking the same type of experience will be among nearly 3,000 people expected to attend the 46th annual convention of the International Franchise Association. This year’s gathering begins Saturday and runs through Feb. 28 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.
The Washington, D.C.-based organization is the largest franchise trade organization, with members including more than 1,000 franchise systems and 8,000 franchisees in 75 industries.
Its past gatherings – held in a different city each year – have drawn former presidents and business titans as guest speakers, with noted political strategists Mary Matalin and James Carville slated to keynote this year’s event.
The organization’s chairman is Cathedral City resident Richard Rennick, founder and CEO of Palm Springs-based American Leak Detection. From its roots as a startup in 1974, that company has become a successful franchised operation, with about 350 locations around the globe.
Rennick said he made a special effort to bring the association gathering to his home town, noting the event is usually held in much larger cities.
“We had a rare opening in our schedule,” Rennick said. “These things are usually planned at least four years in advance.”
Franchisees of established businesses pay an up-front fee to the franchisor – ranging from $10,000 to as much as $1 million per location, depending on the type of operation – and also pay a set percentage of revenues as an annual royalty.In California, rules governing how companies franchise their operations are set by federal as well as state regulators. And studies suggest that franchised businesses are growing as an economic force.
According to a 2004 study done by PriceWaterhouseCoopers for the franchise association, the 3,589 franchised businesses in the 45th Congressional District – which includes most of the valley – generated 42,465 jobs, creating $945 million in total payroll. Additional jobs and payroll are generated through goods and services purchased by those companies.
The growing valley has recently seen the arrival of several new franchised locations of coffee competitors like Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Bad Ass Coffee. Rennick said he would not be surprised to see It’s a Grind increase its local presence (and Joyner said at least one other store, operated by another franchisee, is coming to La Quinta).
But Rennick noted an even bigger trend hitting the franchise world – which could be surfacing more in the valley – is companies catering to the needs of time-strapped families. They are performing tasks like preparing meals, chauffeuring kids to soccer practice and running miscellaneous household errands.
“A lot of people don’t realize you can find franchises for almost any kind of service,” Rennick said. “It’s not just about restaurants and coffee shops.”
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