Joel Libava
The Quiznos located down the street from us was open for about a year and a half, then all of a sudden it closed. Then it opened back up for about 8 months or so.
Then it closed again.
Then it opened for about 3 months. Now it’s closed. Being an ex-franchisee of Quiznos can’t be too enjoyable.
I’ve written about how things have been completely dysfunctional at the Denver headquarters of Quiznos Restaurants.
I’m sure that some of the ex-franchisees of the Quiznos Restaurant franchise had no idea what they were getting into. Now, I’m not going to get all crazy here and talk about the fact that these ex-Quiznos franchisees did a horrible job researching their franchises. Obviously, they didn’t know the proper franchise research steps. They couldn’t have talked to that many Quiznos franchise owners. Or, maybe they did, but still invested their $175,000.
Well, things just aren’t getting better for this submarine sandwich franchise.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Quiznos just hired the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison along with investment bank Moelis & Co. to negotiate with creditors on how to address Quiznos debt load, which may exceed $850 million.
So, what happened? What caused this once fast-growing food franchise to become one of the franchise industry’s biggest train wrecks? What did the management team in Denver do to rile their franchisees up so much, that some of them ended up filing a class-action lawsuit. Read about the $206 million
It may not be over for this once hot franchise opportunity; only time will tell.
I really feel bad for the franchisees that have gone out of business. Maybe they’ll share their stories, so that other would-be franchise owners can learn from their mistakes.
Heck, maybe even the guy that put Quiznos on the map, Rick Schaden, will share his mistakes with the world. It wouldn’t hurt.
Stories like this make me realize that prospective franchise owners really need to get a lot more educated about franchising, including how to choose franchises, and how to do their franchise research.
Maybe I should write a book.
Become a Franchise Owner!: The Start-Up Guide to Lowering Risk, Making Money, and Owning What you Do
