Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser [180]
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94 “Instead of the company paying the salesmen”: Luxenberg, Roadside Empires, p. 13.
95 often earned more money than the company’s founder: See Emerson, Economics of Fast Food, p. 59; Love, Behind the Arches, pp. 171–75.
“common sense”: Kroc, Grinding It Out, p. 111.
“any unusual aptitude or intellect”: Ibid., p. 111.
96 “We are not basically in the food business”: Quoted in Love, Behind the Arches, p. 199. See also Kroc, Grinding It Out, p. 109.
more than $180 million a year: By 1998, the year of Richard McDonald’s death, the annual system-wide sales of McDonald’s exceeded $36 billion. Cited in “The Annual,” McDonald’s Corporation 1998 Annual Report.
“grinding it out”: Kroc, Grinding It Out, p. 123.
97 “Eventually I opened a McDonald’s”: Ibid., p. 123.
The distinctive architecture of each chain: For the use of chain architecture as “packaging” and Louis Cheskin’s advice to McDonald’s, see Thomas Hines, The Total Package: The Evolution and Secret Meanings of Boxes, Bottles, Cans, and Tubes (New York: Little, Brown, 1995), pp. 121–24.
98 “mother McDonald’s breasts”: Quoted in “Brand Iconography: The Secret to Creating Lasting Brands?” Brand Strategy, February 20, 1999.
an IFA survey claimed that 92 percent: Cited in Dan Morse and Jeffrey A. Tannenbaum, “Poll on High Success Rate for Franchises Raises Eyebrows,” Wall Street Journal, March 17, 1998. For the results of a similar, equally dubious IFA poll, see Joan Oleck, “The Numbers Game: Retail Franchise Failure Rates,” Restaurant Business, June 10, 1993.
98 38.1 percent of new franchised businesses: Cited in testimony of Dr. Timothy Bates to the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, Judiciary Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, June 24, 1999.
According to another study: Despite the high failure rate, the study’s author, Scott A. Shane, believes that franchising is still the best way to expand a company quickly, though the financial risks are often understated. See Scott A. Shane, “Hybrid Organizational Arrangements and Their Implications for Firm Growth and Survival: A Study of New Franchisors,” Academy of Management Journal, February 1996.
“In short”: Testimony of Dr. Timothy Bates.
99 Ralston-Purina once terminated: See Boas and Chain, Big Mac, pp. 162–63.
100 more legal disputes with franchisees: Cited in Richard Behar, “Why Subway Is ‘The Biggest Problem in Franchising,’” Fortune, March 16, 1998.
the “worst” franchise in America: Quoted in Jennifer Lanthier, “Subway Bites,” Financial Post, November 25, 1995. For other accounts of Subway’s questionable business practices, see Barbara Marsh, “Franchise Realities: Sandwich Shop Chain Surges, but to Run One Can Take Heroic Effort,” Wall Street Journal, September 16, 1992; Jeffrey A. Tannenbaum, “Right to Retake Subway Shops Spurs Outcry,” Wall Street Journal, February 2, 1995.
“Subway is the biggest problem in franchising”: Quoted in Behar, “Subway.”
“almost as geared to selling franchises”: Lanthier, “Subway Bites.”
A top Subway executive has acknowledged: See Behar, “Subway.”
101 30 to 50 percent of Subway’s new franchisees: Cited ibid.
Coble’s bill would for the first time: For a detailed analysis of the legislation and strong criticism of its proposals, see Harold Brown, “The Proposed Federal Legislation in 1999,” New York Law Journal, January 28, 1999; Rochelle B. Spandorf, “Federal Regulating Legislation,” Franchising Business and Law Alert, November 1999.
“We are not seeking to penalize anyone”: Testimony of Howard Coble to the Subcommittee