The Wall Street Journal -- Franchising, nothing but franchising. If you don't have a subscription to WSJ, you should think about getting one. There are at least three interesting articles coming out of today's WSJ on franchise companies.
First, The Wall Street Journal Online published this interesting article about the problems at Krispy Kreme. The article suggests that Fortune Magazine's 2003 pick for hottest brand in America may have expanded too fast and diluted its "cult status" by distributing its doughnuts through a number of venues -- like the brand equivalent to Hollywood's media saturation.
In another article, the Wall Street Journal reports on another publicly traded franchisor, AFC Enterprises, that has generated some news over the last year. On Wednesday, we posted a story about AFC suing Arthur Andersen over the company's two restatements of revenue and a number of shareholder lawsuits. Today, the Journal reports that AFC's insurance company is attempting to rescind some of the company's insurance policies because, according to the insurance company, they were obtained through misrepresentations.
Finally, the Journal published this article about the attempted sale of DB Companies for $71 million that was blocked in Delaware bankruptcy court in a struggle involving the founding family, the franchisees and competing bidders. The company, which filed bankruptcy in 2001, operates a chain of 149 stores and franchises 50 DB Marts. Judge Peter Walsh will hold a hearing today to hear about a number of pending deals, including bids from Getty and DB competitor Cumberland Farms.
Posted by franchiselawblog at September 3, 2004 10:17 AM