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Saint Cinnamon's franchising plight
Yes, I've been fretting my digital absence from this screen of late. I can offer you no valid excuse except to gripe that work has simply zapped my strength. At least it seems that way whenever I've contemplated turning the ignition on the blog software package that allows me to share vital data with you.
Case in point (of vital data, that is): Franchising in the Middle East. It's going gangbusters, with restaurant operators rushing in to find deep-pocketed individuals who can throw up a half-dozen units, preferably, in fast-growing, multinational Dubai.
Foodservice experience? It's helpful. Experienced franchisors always recommend dealing with a Middle East company that is already operating under a franchise agreement, or has operated under one. It's standard-issue advice. (What? You're going to go with a newcomer to the restaurant business? At this distance?)
Mark Halpern of Saint Cinnamon thought he was following that advice when he signed on a large Kuwaiti -based company as his franchisee. The company's executives told him to sit back and relax. They would handle opening the Dubai market. After all, they had plenty of experience; indeed they had. The group is well-known for operating hundreds of American branded restaurants.
I called Halpern, executive vice president of the Toronto-based chain, to confirm (for a story I was writing) that Saint Cinnamon was in fact shuttering the last of its four bakery-cafés in Dubai. "That would be accurate," came his unruffled reply.
"[The franchisee] said they knew everything," he added about the Kuwait group whose name I can't reveal because I haven't called them for a reaction.
When Halpern tried to find out something about the Dubai venture, he came up empty-handed. "You couldn't find anyone to sit down with," he claimed. "We tried to get in touch but the company didn't respond."
Apparently, the franchise partner never bothered to build an infrastructure in the UAE.
Hope springs eternal in this business. Halpern recently signed up a new Middle East franchisee, a Pakistani group. Will they be reviving the Dubai market, I wondered. Nope. According to Halpern, their first store opens Bangladesh.
Saint Cinnamon's franchising plight
May 2, 2008
Yes, I've been fretting my digital absence from this screen of late. I can offer you no valid excuse except to gripe that work has simply zapped my strength. At least it seems that way whenever I've contemplated turning the ignition on the blog software package that allows me to share vital data with you.Case in point (of vital data, that is): Franchising in the Middle East. It's going gangbusters, with restaurant operators rushing in to find deep-pocketed individuals who can throw up a half-dozen units, preferably, in fast-growing, multinational Dubai.
 |
| Dubai |
Mark Halpern of Saint Cinnamon thought he was following that advice when he signed on a large Kuwaiti -based company as his franchisee. The company's executives told him to sit back and relax. They would handle opening the Dubai market. After all, they had plenty of experience; indeed they had. The group is well-known for operating hundreds of American branded restaurants.
I called Halpern, executive vice president of the Toronto-based chain, to confirm (for a story I was writing) that Saint Cinnamon was in fact shuttering the last of its four bakery-cafés in Dubai. "That would be accurate," came his unruffled reply.
 |
| Bangladesh |
When Halpern tried to find out something about the Dubai venture, he came up empty-handed. "You couldn't find anyone to sit down with," he claimed. "We tried to get in touch but the company didn't respond."
Apparently, the franchise partner never bothered to build an infrastructure in the UAE.
Hope springs eternal in this business. Halpern recently signed up a new Middle East franchisee, a Pakistani group. Will they be reviving the Dubai market, I wondered. Nope. According to Halpern, their first store opens Bangladesh.
Posted by David Farkas on May 2, 2008 | Comments (2)
Industries: Expansion
May 5, 2008
In response to: Saint Cinnamon's franchising plight
Lane Fan commented:
In response to: Saint Cinnamon's franchising plight
Lane Fan commented:
As long as Lane is posting, no one missed you.
May 6, 2008
In response to: Saint Cinnamon's franchising plight
Lane commented:
In response to: Saint Cinnamon's franchising plight
Lane commented:
That's not nice. I missed Dave. He has to do this and his other job, too.
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