Tucson Owners Give Up Franchises, Venture Into Business On Their Own

Azstarnet.com:

Nearly 4 decades after his father opened the first Martinizing Dry Cleaning location in Tucson, William ‘Bake’ Shaffer is taking his family’s Martinizing franchise independent. Over the next several weeks, the Martinizing signs at his 9 locations will be replaced with signs that say Shaffer Dry Cleaning & Laundry.

Shaffer said he didn’t want to expand at the pace the Cincinnati-based chain was demanding – 8 new stores over the next 15 years. Also, he said, after spending most of his working life in dry cleaning, ‘I don’t need my hand held.’

Shaffer isn’t the only former franchise owner in Tucson trying to go on his own after being part of a larger brand. Also making the switch is the former Clarion Randolph Park Hotel, at 102 N. Alvernon Way, now operating as the Randolph Park Hotel and Suites. Omar Mireles, executive vice president of HSL Properties, which owns the hotel, said the company wasn’t happy with the midlevel Clarion brand and is going independent while searching for a new brand.

‘It wasn’t quite meeting the expectation that we had at the end of the day,’ he said.

Other franchises that have gone on their own in recent years include The Pizzeria On Ina, at 4229 W. Ina Road, formerly a Picurro Pizzeria; Santa Barbara Ice Creamery at 1058 N Campbell Ave., a former Baskin-Robbins; and Ziggi’s, at 3225 N. Swan Road and 2500 N. Silverbell Road, previously Nothing But Noodles.

Experts say turning a franchise into an independent business is fraught with perils – including the expense of changing logos, signs, phone numbers and proprietary equipment; possible lawsuits by the parent company; and all the usual challenges faced by small businesses, such as trying to develop a customer base.

Nonetheless, Shaffer and other former Tucson franchisees said they were willing to take the risks.

‘I’ve been much happier being independent,’ said Roberta Shapiro, who changed her restaurant to The Pizzeria On Ina after her franchiser, Peter Picurro, was charged in 2005 with luring a minor for sexual exploitation. Shapiro said she enjoys the freedom of being able to choose her restaurant’s hours and experiment with the menu, which she couldn’t do as a franchisee. That helps her keep up with her customers’ changing tastes, she said.

‘I think we’re a lot more efficient,’ she said.

Read the Franchisee obligations.