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Franchise Disclosure Document
A franchise disclosure document (FDD) is a legal document which is presented to prospective buyers of franchises in the pre-sale disclosure process in the United States. It was originally known as the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC) (or uniform franchise disclosure document), prior to revisions made by the Federal Trade Commission in July 2007. Franchisors were given until July 1, 2008 to comply with the changes. The Federal Trade Commission Rule of 1979 which governs the disclosure of essential information in the sale of franchises to the public underlies the state FDD's and prohibits any private right of action for the violation of the mandated disclosure provisions of the FDDs. Therefore, the FDD implies that only the federal government or the state governments have the right to sue and negotiate consent decrees and rescissions with those franchisors who violate the provisions of the FTC Franchise Rule. Various state franchise laws that provide for use of an FDD, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States asserts sovereignty over five Territories of the United States, major island territories and United States Minor Outlying Islands, various uninhabited islands in Oceania and the Caribbean. It is a megadiverse country, with the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest land area and List of countries and dependencies by population, third-largest population, exceeding 340 million. Its three Metropolitan statistical areas by population, largest metropolitan areas are New York metropolitan area, New York, Greater Los Angeles, Los Angel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It shares jurisdiction over federal civil antitrust law enforcement with the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Department of Justice Antitrust Division. The agency is headquartered in the Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington, DC. The FTC was established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914, Federal Trade Commission Act, which was passed in response to the 19th-century monopolistic trust crisis. Since its inception, the FTC has enforced the provisions of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, Clayton Act, a key U.S. antitrust statute, as well as the provisions of the FTC Act, et seq. Over time, the FTC has been delegated with the enforcement of additional business regulation statutes and has promul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franchise Rule
The franchise rule defines acts or practices that are unfair or deceptive in the franchise industry in the United States. The franchise rule is published by the Federal Trade Commission. The franchise rule seeks to facilitate informed decisions and to prevent deception in the sale of franchises by requiring franchisors to provide prospective franchisees with essential information prior to the sale. It does not, however, regulate the substance of the terms that control the relationship between franchisors and franchisees. Also, while the franchise rule removed the regulation of the sale of franchises from the purview of state law, placing it under the authority of the FTC to regulate interstate commerce, the FTC franchise rule does not require franchisors to disclose the unit performance statistics of the franchised system to new buyers of franchises (as would be necessary under state and federal securities and exchange law). The FTC franchise rule was originally adopted in 1978. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 2014."Nestlé's Brabeck: We have a 'huge advantage' over big pharma in creating medical foods" , CNN Money, 1 April 2011 It ranked No. 64 on the Fortune Global 500, ''Fortune'' Global 500 in 2017. In 2023, the company was ranked 50th in the Forbes Global 2000, ''Forbes'' Global 2000. Nestlé's products include coffee and tea, candy and confectionery, bottled water, infant formula and baby food, Dairy product, dairy products and ice cream, frozen foods, breakfast cere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nestlé Toll House Café
Nestlé Toll House Café was a franchise in the United States and Canada founded by Ziad Dalal and his partner Doyle Liesenfelt. The two started Crest Foods, Inc. D/B/A "Nestlé Toll House Café by Chip" in 2000 in Dallas, Texas. Crest Foods, the master franchisor for Nestlé, is in charge of developing cookie store franchises across the United States as part of Nestlé USA's challenge to the longtime industry leader, Mrs. Fields Famous Cookies Inc. The menu consists of items such as cookies, cookie cakes, brownies, ice cream, milk shakes, smoothies, and a full line of hot and frozen coffee beverages. The Nestlé Toll House Cafés are commonly found in shopping malls or shopping centers. In May 2022, it was announced Nestlé Toll House Café has been acquired by the California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franchise Agreement
A franchise agreement is a legal, binding contract between a franchisor and franchisee. In the United States franchise agreements are enforced at the State level. Prior to a franchisee signing a contract, the US Federal Trade Commission regulates information disclosures under the authority of The Franchise Rule. The Franchise Rule requires a franchisee be supplied a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) (originally called Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC)) prior to signing a franchise agreement, a minimum of fourteen days before signing a franchise agreement. Once the Federal ten-day waiting period has passed, the Franchise Agreement becomes a State level jurisdiction document. Each state has unique laws regarding franchise agreements. A franchise agreement contents can vary significantly in content depending upon the franchise system, the state jurisdiction of the franchisor, franchisee, and arbitrator. It overall provides the investor with a product, a branded name an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franchise Fraud
Franchise fraud is defined by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation as a pyramid scheme. Franchise fraud in U.S. federal law The FBI website states: :"pyramid schemes — also referred to as franchise fraud or chain referral schemes — are marketing and investment frauds in which an individual is offered a distributorship or franchise to market a particular product. The real profit is earned, not by the sale of the product, but by the sale of new distributorships. Emphasis on selling franchises rather than the product eventually leads to a point where the supply of potential investors is exhausted and the pyramid collapses." In the United States, franchising is regulated by a complex web of franchise rules and franchising regulations consisting of the Federal Trade Commission ''Franchise Rule'', state laws, and industry guidelines. The most recent version of the FTC ''Franchise Rule'' was in 2007, is printed in . The FTC franchise rule specifies what information ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gag Order
A gag order (also known as a gagging order or suppression order) is an order, typically a legal order by a court or government, restricting information or comment from being made public or passed on to any unauthorized third party. The phrase may sometimes be used of a private order by an employer or other institution. Uses of gag orders include keeping trade secrets of a company, protecting the integrity of ongoing police or military operations, and protecting the privacy of victims or minors. Conversely, as their downside, they may be abused as a useful tool for those of financial means to intimidate witnesses and prevent release of information, using the legal system rather than other methods of intimidation. Strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) orders may potentially be abused in this way. Gag orders are sometimes used in an attempt to assure a fair trial by preventing prejudicial pre-trial publicity, although their use for this purpose is controversial sin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Association Of Franchisees And Dealers
The American Association of Franchisees and Dealers (AAFD) acts as a consumer protection organization that exposes the unethical practices that exist in the franchising community, and to educate the public regarding fair franchise rules, and quality franchise opportunities. History The American Association of Franchisees and Dealers (AAFD) came into existence because United States laws which purport to regulate franchising effectively legalize abusive franchising practices, rather than restrict franchise fraud. As long as the franchisor discloses the details of its practices, the unethical practices are enforceable. The AAFD seeks to provide a counterbalance to franchisee-unfriendly franchising regulations and franchise misrepresentations in the franchising industry by providing resources to franchise associations, franchisees, franchise owners and prospective buyers. The AAFD is a national non-profit trade association dedicated to defining and promoting best franchise practices ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franchise Termination
Franchise termination is termination of a franchise business license by a franchisor or a franchisee. The United States Federal Trade Commission administrates oversight of preinvestment franchise disclosures via The Franchise Rule. Franchise agreements are regulated in the United States under state law, rather than federal law. Franchise termination agreement documents Clauses in the ''franchise agreement'' will stipulate grounds for termination, remedies against termination, and the process by either the franchisee or franchisor to start termination. Several states in the U.S. restrict terminations unless there is "good cause," but not all states define this phrase in the same manner. Franchise termination notice via franchise fraud A franchisor that is practicing Franchise fraud will typically use a franchise termination process that was not disclosed in the Franchise agreement, Uniform Franchise Offering Circular, or Franchise Disclosure Document. A churning franchise prac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franchising
Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its business model, brand, and rights to sell its branded products and services to a franchisee. In return, the franchisee pays certain fees and agrees to comply with certain obligations, typically set out in a franchise agreement. The word ''franchise'' is of Anglo-French derivation—from , meaning 'free'—and is used both as a noun and as a (transitive) verb. For the franchisor, use of a franchise system is an alternative business growth strategy, compared to expansion through corporate owned outlets or "chain stores". Adopting a franchise system business growth strategy for the sale and distribution of goods and services minimizes the franchisor's capital investment and liability risk. Franchising is rarely an equal partnership, especially in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franchise Validation
Franchise validation is the process of interviewing franchise owners by someone who is interested in investing in that franchise. It is a best practice for prospective franchise owners. During the validation process, the prospect franchisee conducts Interviews with current franchise owners. As an alternative, there are companies and consultants that provide validation services for prospective owners.. Self validation For prospective franchisees doing their own valuation, the first step is to contact the franchise owners. * A complete list of current franchises must be listed in a franchise's Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). * In addition, some franchises provide a list of franchise owners. Contacting franchises can be a time-consuming and frustrating experience because franchisees are typically busy people. As a consequence, many prospective owners drop the validation process. However, once contacted, many franchisees will openly and honestly share the less ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
