When dozens of rats were seen scurrying around a closed KFC/Taco Bell restaurant in New York City’s Greenwich Village last month, other franchise owners knew they would pay the price for one store’s transgressions.
The owner of the restaurant, Matthew Bernardo, had been cited for a number of health code violations and was forced to close his doors after video of the infestation ran rampant on the Web. Although a spokesman for Taco Bell insisted that the company has “strict quality assurance standards, and this situation was completely unacceptable,” other franchise owners had to face the backlash head-on.
One of the great advantages of a franchise business is that, as a single operator, you have the benefit of this enormous network and brand,” said Matthew Shay, president of the International Franchise Association.
“The potential risk associated with that is that if there is one negative occurrence at another unit, you might feel some of that fallout.”
In fact, Susan Kezios, president of the American Franchisee Association, said this type of scenario is the biggest dilemma facing franchisees. “You may be running your store up to standard but if another store has rats running around, that’s going to reflect on you.”
Kezios said even an isolated incident could “absolutely affect” other franchisees’ revenue. “It’s your worst nightmare, through no fault of your own,” she said.
No comments yet.