The franchise industry seems to be abuzz about a new saga over at Dunkin’ Donuts. Dunkin’ Donuts, known for their flavorful donuts, and fresh brewed coffee is being accused of hammering on their franchisees-for things like cracked floor tiles, and the like.
In other words, Dunkin’ Donuts corporate is suing franchisees.
From Boston.com;
“Dunkin’ Brands has never pursued litigation against a franchisee
without clear cause, nor will we,’’ Dunkin’ Brands chief executive
Nigel Travis wrote in a letter to franchisees. Dunkin’ spokesman Andrew
Mastrangelo said in a statement: “It is also irresponsible and
incorrect to imply that litigation is in any way part of Dunkin’
Donuts’ strategy for profitability. In 2008, despite the economic down
cycle, Dunkin’ Donuts global system-wide sales were up 5 percent and we
opened more than 1,300 new stores worldwide.’’
Jim Coen, a franchise friend of mine, and president of the Dunkin’ Donuts Independent Franchise Owners,
said yesterday that he does not understand the company’s legal strategy
and that it is difficult to find another franchisor targeting shop
owners to this extent.
My friend Sean Kelly over at Franchise Pick asks;
Is Dunkin’ Donuts aggressively litigating it’s own franchisees for profit?”
Interesting question. Is that possible? What do you think?
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find a donut hole or two…
Update– (October 2nd)- Dunkin’ Donuts President Is Leaving
Jerry Lennon says
October 1, 2009 at 12:10 pmOne only has to read what Dunkin Brands is doing in other areas of the world to realize that their previously successful philosophy of open, fair, and honest dealings with franchisees has been abandoned in this era of big company screw jobs.
In Australia, Dunkin and their corrupt partner Allied Brands have been engaged in lying and deceptive practices, which include the sales of known-bad Baskin Robbins locations to Koreans, complete with migration visas!
http://baskinrobbinsaustralia.blogspot.com/2009/09/australia-baskin-robbins-failure-rate.html
Talk about cynical!
Nigel Travis was said to have good franchisee relations at this previous employments. Clearly this was the result of those companies being moral operations. Dunkin Brands and Baskin Robbins have gone from being one of the best, to one of the worst, in very short order.
http://baskinrobbinsaustralia.blogspot.com
The Franchise King says
October 1, 2009 at 1:42 pmJerry,
That was uplifting. Thank you for the info, though!
(Thank you for reading my blog, too)
The Franchise King
Joel Libava
Matthew James says
December 9, 2009 at 6:14 pmI can’t believe all of this going on!
Seiyoon Park says
December 19, 2009 at 4:15 amI went and looked at the blog about Dunkin Brands shown below, and am amazed at how this company can be so racist and unethical.
Why would anyone consider a franchise with this company? Is this how Nigel Travis ran Papa John’s Pizza when he was there? Or is this the result of the venture capital companies that now own Dunkin Brands?
More information about the dishonest activities in Australia is here:
http://lachlan-macintosh.blogspot.com/