Talk:Franchising

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Contrary to what might be expected, there is no federal registry of franchising or any federal filing requirements for information. Instead, states primarily collect data on franchising companies and enforce laws and regulations regarding their spread.

I'm not sure I understand why this would be contrary to expectations. --Brion 05:51 9 Jun 2003 (UTC)

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I dont know what the original writer of this article had in mind by "contrary to what might be expected", but I personally would expect the overseeing of franchises to be at the national level rather than the state level. Almost all franchises are national. To oversee them at the state level would entail incredible duplication of effort, inefficiencies, and wastefulness. user:mydogategodshat

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How about a list of Franchises?

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[edit] French Derivation of Franchise?

Last time I checked, the french work for "free" was "libre"... Anybody care to explain? --MK

You probably just didn't check hard enough... See e.g. [1] -- Naphra

Bold text--203.177.228.44 09:08, 26 September 2006 (UTC) libre is spanish term for free...dont yah know it?! or u dont get it?!!

Franchise comes from Old French franchise, from franche, feminine of franc, meaning "free" or "exempt" -- Source: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. CZmarlin 18:57, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Franchises can be small businesses, too!

As an employee of a family-owned and -operated franchise, I disagree with people denigrating franchised businesses on the grounds that it's putting "independent" and/or "locally-owned" establishments out of business. Our franchised business puts more money directly into our community than any so-called independently-owned local competitor. (My establishment works in the tourism industry, so we're actually capturing several million dollars of revenue from out-of-town tourists and funneling it directly into the local market with the exception of our 3% franchise fee and the goods we must purchase from out of state.) In fact, most of our direct, franchised competitors are owned by local businessmen. Only one of our competitors is corporately owned, and none of the franchises is owned by out-of-town corporations.

Same goes for several other franchises in our town, like restaurants. I think McDonald's has three separate franchise agreements in town (with 15 restaurants), and all three are owned by local families. Our Taco Bell franchisee is a local businessman, and so is Subway. Chili's (with the exception of the one in the airport terminal) is locally owned, as are the three new Carl's Jrs. These local franchise owners contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to our local economy and provide large gifts to local non-profit organizations. Yes, the cost of the supplies and franchise fees goes out of state (such as the Taco Bell condiments, which I know are trucked in from out of state), but the profits and employee's wages stay right here in town.

So, perhaps in other areas, franchises are owned by conglomerate corporations that funnel money to well-to-dos in high rises on the opposite coast, but franchises can just as easily be locally-owned, huge supporters of the community.

I was going to recommend rewording this in this article, but when I reread the article to suggest a rewording, I realized I misread it the first time. Still, there's a slight sound of anti-franchise bias in this statement: "Many retail sectors, particularly in the United States, are now dominated by franchising to the point where independently-run operations are the exception rather than the rule." So, ignore everything I just said...? :-)

cluth 08:27, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] About the origin of 'Franchise'

The origin of Franchise does seem to be old French. This page http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=franchise&searchmode=none gives the following etymology: "c.1290, from O.Fr. franchise "freedom," from variant stem of franc "free" (see frank). Sense narrowed 18c. to "particular legal privilege," then "right to vote" (1790). Meaning "authorization by a company to sell its products or services" is from 1959". Another page http://www.franinfo.com/history.html provides a longer history of the evolution of the concept. There too, it mentions the original meaning to be 'privilege or freedom'. Priyatu 07:38, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

That's pretty much it, though franc still exists with the same meaning in Modern French, notably in the term franc-maçon, 'freemason'. -- Blisco 09:07, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] External linkspam

Let me explain why I deleted the Blue MauMau "Franchipedia" link before. It appears to be run in the manner of a blog. WP:EL notes that blogs are to be avoided unless the subject of the article is a blog or the blog has been carefully reviewed. I'm not familiar with bluemaumau or Franchipedia--is the wiki itself not part of the blog? The style is confusing, so it's hard to determine what's the blog and what's not. The articles seem to be less of a wiki and more of a blog from what I've read (no citations of information, articles include blog-like "trackback" feature, comments section, member-rating of article system--all the signs of a blog). Before I pass judgement again and remove the link, I'd like to hear anyone else's thoughts on this external link, since it's a little more murky than, say, any of the other external links I've removed. Thanks! Rkitko 06:13, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Edit: Some of the articles on the site are also copies with slight modifications on the wikipedia articles with the same name. For example, see Howard Johnson's and Blue MauMau's Howard Johnson's article. An external link that doesn't add much new content besides what's already on Wikipedia isn't of much value, in my humble opinion (Wikipedia policy prefers internal wiki links over external links). Any thoughts? Rkitko 06:20, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
After looking through some of the site, I agree it's somewhere in the gray area between "obvious spam" and "authoritative resource". It looks like a combination of a blogging system and a wiki. Since the site has other relevant information in addition to blogs, Wikipedia's general guideline to avoid links to blogs doesn't necessarily apply. It looks like there's a small amount of original material (e.g. [2]) in addition to that copied from Wikipedia.
However, there are a few reasons why the link should arguably be removed. Within the article,
Blue MauMau's Franchipedia Project has an audio interview with Kentucky Fried Chicken's first franchisee, Harman's Cafe of 1952 that gives an insight....
sounds like a classic example of an attempt to promote a website. And as you say, there's just not much there that Wikipedia doesn't already provide. Furthermore, it's not a good idea to include a link based on promises of future improvement ("currently documenting franchise history one company at a time"), since Wikipedia is not a vehicle for promoting new websites. Thus I think we should remove the link for now, but revisit the decision as the site matures. Wmahan. 05:31, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

RESPONSE: The audio file of an interview with one of the first modern franchises is incredibly interesting from a historical business perspective. I wish there were podcasts about the A&W business model of 1919 but there isn't. (I understand Blue MauMau is working on it.) Harman's KFC Cafe is one of the earliest recorded franchise models that we have on the Net. It explains how the franchise was organized and different dynamics in the give and take of owners and corporate staff in the early days. The name "Kentucky Fried Chicken" comes from that original franchise owner in Utah, who felt it sounded more exotic and friendlier than Utah Fried Chicken. My vote is to link to the article. But again, this is more of the business of franchising and not so much the consumer perspective of what store and what product came when. Wikipedia should try to link to trade wikipedias because the emphasis will be different. In other words, if a trade group such as doctors want to create a trade wikipedia, it is in wikia's interest to link with such articles and insights. Harry Maeda 05:22, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Inaccurate information?

(moved from User talk:Harry Maeda)

There is information on this page that is not entirely correct. I have attempted to change some of the mistakes in franchise early history. It did not start with Howard Johnson's in the 1930s. That is much too late. A&W was considerably earlier, starting in Lodi, CA in 1919. Their owners, Alfred and Walter, stated that they copied the older franchise model of tire companies.

In regards to hotel franchises in Wales between hotels and bars in the 1850s, this is possible but documents and links would be greatly appreciated to collaborate the claim.

You can find an ongoing project of early franchise history at [the Franchipedia], an online franchise wikipedia project. Your comments there would be much welcome.

This statement is also debatable. "Many retail sectors, particularly in the United States, are now dominated by franchising to the point where independently-run businesses are the exception rather than the rule." An example should be used to substantiate it.

I do not want to declare this page in dispute but would prefer discussing the issues first. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Harry Maeda (talk • contribs) 06:24, 7 August 2006 (UTC).

And my reply to Harry, left on his talk page:
Greetings, Harry. I'm going to move your statements over to Talk:Franchising as that's where I think you meant to place them. Also, don't forget to sign your name on talk pages with four tildas (~~~~). I'd also appreciate your thoughts on what I wrote at Talk:Franchising#External linkspam. Please also remember that you must have sources for your contributions that claim certain facts. Such as your claim that "Franchising dates back to at least the 1850s" -- here above you admit you don't have a source for that claim (print or online). I'm going to also put in the standard wiki welcome, which will give you general links to wikipedia policies and guidelines. Hope all of this helps! If you have any questions, leave a message on my talk page or at Talk:Franchising if it's related to that topic. Thanks! Rkitko 06:31, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for the welcome and the link to the Wikipedia guidelines. I will respond shortly. Good to be here. Harry Maeda 13:06, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
We're glad to have you and look forward to a full future of productive edits! I hope you find all of those links helpful. Being a new wikipedian is kind of overwhelming--I haven't even sifted through all of the policies yet. Again, let me know if there's any question I can help answer or direct you to where you might find the answer. Best, --Rkitko 17:39, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

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Hi. Hope this works. Just to be clear, I did not say that "Franchising dates back to at least the 1850s." That statement already existed in the article. I asked that references be provided. I've not heard that and have several leaders in the Australian franchise scene that have not heard that. It may be true but providing references would be safest. --Harry Maeda 05:08, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Oh, I apologize for saying you put that statement in! To be honest, I haven't read the whole article. As explained below, I just watch the page because of heavy linkspam activity. More comments below, I just wanted to apologize up here for that. Best, Rkitko 20:05, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

I've read the Wiki rules. (There's quite a few of them!)I'm waiting for anyone else to respond to your comments.

Point 1. Blue MauMau is a social media or community, much like Wikipedia. However, these are not college kids that are copying news materials that already exists on the Net. It isn't MySpace or Blogger. First, it is a vertical community that has tremendous originality. (See the article on Hospitality Experts Say Market Fine.) On Blue MauMau franchise CEOs (see Editors Note to CEO), well-known franchise consultants and experts contribute articles. The comments such franchise insiders make is highly news worthy and informative. The confusion may occur because Blue MauMau has a blog section, where experts write columns.

Point 2. It has an online franchise encyclopedia, the Franchipedia project, where it is trying to jump start from a business perspective the history of franchising in this country. The Franchipedia project in some cases has copied articles from Wikipedia such as the McDonald's entry so that readers can contribute something from something rather than from nothing.

But there are stark differences. The few franchise entries in wikipedia about franchising tend to be consumer oriented, e.g. "Shamrock shake started in 1970". The Franchipedia project wants to comment more on the development of the franchise business model. As more writers contribute, the few articles in Wikipedia and also in Blue MauMau will diverge because perspectives and aim is different. Most importantly, the Franchipedia Project is a trade wikipedia that is open to all. It doesn't just allow one company to gather, edit and publish information like FranData, Franchise Business Review or NewRules.org?? You do not even have to be a member of the Franchipedia community to contribute so it is true to Wiki principles of being open to all.

Blue MauMau is trying to work with Wikipedia. These two communities can help each other with relevent articles. For these reasons and more, my suggestion is that an external link to the Franchipedia project be listed to encourage people to contribute to its body of business knowledge.

Franchising Errors and Gaps: Whoever is contributing to the Wikipedia entry, there are big pieces of franchising that are not quite right or that are missing. There is little mention about the beginnings of modern business format franchising. Until I came last week, you actually wrote the first modern franchise was Howard Johnsons in the 30s. There's no mention of such basic franchise concepts as "churning", "retrofranchising", and much more. An open franchise wikipedia can help Wikipedia get its own facts straight through franchise consultants, experts and CEOs.

Harry Maeda 05:08, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Harry_Maeda"

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I'm gone through this article one more time to find many errors. (1) It describes only business format franchising as "franchising" hence, overview, advantages and disadvantages sections are misleading. (2) Many minor areas that mislead, such as the origins of the word,"Franchising (from the French for free)". That's technically correct but misleading. Reader needs a better understanding of the French word "Frank" from which franchise has been derived. (3) Legal aspect such as major cases impacting business format franchising are missing. Dates and explanations are not correct.

Harry Maeda 17:32, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Harry, this is excellent that you're locating errors and wish to make this article better! I'm glad someone is finally taking an interest in this topic. I admit I know next to nothing in this realm--I just keep this page and Corporate social responsibility on my watchlist because both tend to have high linkspam (see also: Wikipedia:External links#Links normally to be avoided) activity.
I agree that wikipedia should pay attention to other wikis, and it does (for example, the Star Trek page has a link to the Star Trek wiki). But, like Wmahan said above, it appears that BlueMauMau is somewhere in the grey area between a blog and an authoritative source. In my surfing on that site, I haven't noticed many articles that are using citations of where the information came from. Usually, I try to obtain the original source and cite it instead of a secondary source (like a website citing an academic article). Other guidelines that might be helpful here that you may not have stumbled upon:
Specifically, as you add new information or verify old information, try to use the new "ref" tags, which are explained here. And if you're like me and need to see these tags in action in a real article, I have implemented them in the Triggerplant article--so check that out to see how the wikitext/html works and produces the references. I'll certainly help you with the technical kinks, but since I don't know much about the subject here, I won't be of much help with the text. Hope all of this helps. Let me know if I can answer any questions you have. Cheers, Rkitko 20:01, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

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You guys are way, way off on this. The entries to the history of franchising and external sources are not from a spambot. They link back to a site that seems to be largely a guild of franchise CEOs, Presidents, VPs and experts yet you call their articles and columns to the industry a personal blog that doesn't meet Wiki standards. (T'aint so, not according to the standards that you cite). The site isn't a single blogger or person trying to promote themselves. It has almost no advertising and it is not a corporation trying to promote itself. The Franchipedia section on the cite is obviously an open, growing, free encyclopedia specializing in a trade. It links to primary sources, which includes original participants in the growth and history of 20th Century franchising who share original stories (such as the KFC first franchisee story), and yet you say that it lacks originality and that it does not cite enough secondary evidence.

This is crazy thinking for building the knowledge of the history of companies and an industry. I guess it has to be done by future students of the next generation who have the time and the technical Internet skills (or whatever it will be then). Apparently if these CEO / authors write it on the Franchipedia now, it doesn't count as far as Wikipedia is concerned. Good luck getting experts. You've turned me off.

Cliff Landon 20:40, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Sir, I never said the external links were generated by a spambot. Linkspam can be generated by a real person (internally: excess intrawiki linking or externally: linking to a site specifically to promote it). Notice above the ambiguity over the intent for placing the link on this article.
As for verifiability, how can we verify that the content of BlueMauMau is indeed written by these CEOs, VPs, and Presidents? Personally, when I'm citing sources of information, I trust print sources or official websites (most likely official annual reports and the like). I looked again through the site and the only articles I ran through that cited any source at all were the ones copied from Wikipedia. I never said the entries on the Franchipedia lack originality. And from what I've seen, they don't cite any primary, secondary, or even tertiary literature. I admire what they're trying to do over at BlueMauMau, but we can't use them as a verifiable source of information just yet.
One more thing: Wikipedia, mostly, does not rely on "experts," though we have quite a few. A well-researched article can be written by anyone on any topic. For example, I know little about AI and computer technology or fractals, yet I wrote the entry on TechnoSphere, citing primary sources (published personal accounts of the people involved, newspaper articles, peer-reviewed journal articles, etc.). I do wish that, instead of disagreeing with Wikipedia policy and my opinions on this matter, we could move forward and expand this article with accurate information. And please do remember that I am but one Wikipedian--do not judge the entire site by one person's actions or opinions. You can certainly ask an admin to review the situation for you, if you wish. Just place {{helpme}} on your talk page with an explanation and link and they will help out. Best, --Rkitko 01:34, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

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Rkitko. Yes. I see the article and the nomenclature to reference a work. I'm not much of a programmer. I'm a busy business guy. I'll look at how to do the referencing and Wiki nomenclature a little more though to see if I can grasp it. I might have to leave this to younger folks than me.

Harry 01:25, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

I can certainly help you with the reference "tags". As you add information, just place the reference in parenthesis (at the end of a paragraph or particular statement that came from a specific source) and then I'll run through the article after your contributions and apply the ref tags. Unless, of course, you want the practice at it. Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help :-) Rkitko 01:34, 18 August 2006 (UTC)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../f/r/a/Talk%7EFranchising_7c7c.html"