[JayCT]

So our state’s Congressional delegation have failed to get answers as to why Bell Helicopter won out over Sikorsky Aircraft for the military’s next generation helicopters. It sounds very suspicious similar to the contract for the Presidential Helicopter (Marine One) contract which was overturned and awarded to Sikorsky in the end. Jay

https://ctmirror.org/2023/02/03/ct-s...elicopter-bid/

[Stepfordct]

Originally Posted by JayCT

You do understand that the food inflation rate you quote is for retail groceries. That’s not what Subway pays for the products they use. They have long term contracts so inflation doesn’t necessarily impact their food prices like it does you and me.

I’m not aware of franchisees refusing to participate in discount programs. They don’t have a choice really and could be brought up on false advertising charges if not offering them.

Also I believe those coupons are useable at the Bed Bath and Beyond stores that are not closing. In Connecticut they are the Norwalk, Brookfield, Guilford, Simsbury and Manchester stores. Jay

Yes, I’m aware…. First off I’m just ballparking it….food inflation is actually higher than 10%
Whether it’s wholesale or retail… percentages can be similar
Now regarding the contracts they have. It helps yes. That said they usually have outs negotiated in the contracts. They are also tied to the futures market. It’s not indefinite either.

Franchisee’s absolutely have a choice. It’s their business and money. The franchisor took control of the franchisee funds and they are at odds with each other.
Franchisor makes money off top line sales in royalties. Franchisee makes money off of net profit. You can’t force an independent business to participate in something that isn’t profitable.
Chevy dealers selling Corvette for 25k over. Mercedes selling G63 for 100k over
Works both ways.

BBY coupon point was really just meant to address a poor marketing issue that cheapens a brand at a high cost to boot.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Stepfordct

Yes, I’m aware…. First off I’m just ballparking it….food inflation is actually higher than 10%
Whether it’s wholesale or retail… percentages can be similar
Now regarding the contracts they have. It helps yes. That said they usually have outs negotiated in the contracts. They are also tied to the futures market. It’s not indefinite either.

Franchisee’s absolutely have a choice. It’s their business and money. The franchisor took control of the franchisee funds and they are at odds with each other.
Franchisor makes money off top line sales in royalties. Franchisee makes money off of net profit. You can’t force an independent business to participate in something that isn’t profitable.
Chevy dealers selling Corvette for 25k over. Mercedes selling G63 for 100k over
Works both ways.

BBY coupon point was really just meant to address a poor marketing issue that cheapens a brand at a high cost to boot.

The Subway franchise agreement requires them to participate whether they like it or not. That’s how franchises work. Otherwise they can lose their franchise as well as face false advertising charges. I do remember there being some grumbling of franchisees several years back over the $5 Footlong offer. They tried to take Subway corporate to court but in the end had no choice but to offer it. Jay

[JayCT]

Great Wolf Lodge is building a massive $100 million resort adjacent to Foxwoods. What a great addition to the already massive Foxwoods complex. Jay

https://patch.com/connecticut/ledyar...-near-foxwoods

[Stepfordct]

Originally Posted by JayCT

The Subway franchise agreement requires them to participate whether they like it or not. That’s how franchises work. Otherwise they can lose their franchise as well as face false advertising charges. I do remember there being some grumbling of franchisees several years back over the $5 Footlong offer. They tried to take Subway corporate to court but in the end had no choice but to offer it. Jay

It’s difficult to not honor advertised specials, true. You end up paying for negative advertising. Quiznos had a major problem with this.
Still many of the franchisees that I kept up with don’t honor all of the deals offered .

[JGBigGreen]

I’ve been to quite a few Subways that don’t honor the coupons and specials. Almost every coupon I’ve ever seen has language that allows franchisees to opt out if they decide not to participate.

Originally Posted by Stepfordct

It’s difficult to not honor advertised specials, true. You end up paying for negative advertising. Quiznos had a major problem with this.
Still many of the franchisees that I kept up with don’t honor all of the deals offered .

[JGBigGreen]

From Subway’s website:

I’ve seen advertisements for a particular product/promotion/price. Why didn’t the store I visited honor this?
We appreciate your excitement over our promotional products and pricing. You’ll see “at participating locations” somewhere on the advertisement or commercial. Since the stores are owned by independent franchisees, the ultimate decision to participate in that promotion does lie with the franchise owner.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by Stepfordct

It’s difficult to not honor advertised specials, true. You end up paying for negative advertising. Quiznos had a major problem with this.
Still many of the franchisees that I kept up with don’t honor all of the deals offered .

Quiznos is what caused me to not start a franchise.

[BHW2436]

It’s already been posted but yes, franchises can opt out of participating, happens all the time.

Also as stated, Bed Bath absolutely became the “don’t shop here without a coupon”. I hardly ever shopped there but if I did any the item was more than $10, you bet I had the 20% coupon. We had a stack of them at home from the countless number of mailings they would send. They also honored them indefinitely, the expiration date didn’t matter. You also could use as many as you want at a time. Buy 10 items, use 10 coupons.

One time forgot the coupon, didn’t bother going. In future kept the coupons in the glove box of the car so they’d always be there.

I’m not even a super price sensitive shopper. For grocery stores I would never bother wasting time getting coupons to save a few bucks. For that store, and only BBY though, I agree, they got you conditioned to use coupons. I mostly bought all my Green Mountain Coffee K-Cups from them. It was right on my driving path to work and was easy.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by Stepfordct

Yes, I’m aware…. First off I’m just ballparking it….food inflation is actually higher than 10%
Whether it’s wholesale or retail… percentages can be similar
Now regarding the contracts they have. It helps yes. That said they usually have outs negotiated in the contracts. They are also tied to the futures market. It’s not indefinite either.

.

Correct. I worked for corps with long-term contracts with multi billion revenue food service provider customers and there were ways for us to raise prices, after a short notice (60 days was common). It simply needed to be backed up by contractually agreed upon indexes going up proportionately. We raised them many times over a decade, and they would whine, but be unable to do anything. Our competition would go up proportionately, using the same clauses in the contract designed for sharply rising costs.

Food production prices have soared so much. I have no doubt the Subway increase is unit price, not more customers. Subway's suppliers would be liquidated the last few years if unable to pass on the food inflation costs they have incurred.

Jimmy John's meanwhile is soaring far more rapidly, which is why Inspire Brands purchased them. It made Inspire the nation's 4th largest group of brands, in aggregate.