Archive for Items Categorized 'Avanti Magazine', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.
Over the past seven years, 7-Eleven franchisees have experienced unprecedented attacks from our franchisor on our income and independent contractor status, so it amazes me when folks from SEI ask me why franchisees are upset. Where should I begin? Let’s start with the gasoline commission reduction to a ridiculous and unsustainable penny and a […]
A year ago, after I had been elected chairman of the National Coalition and before I officially took office, former NCASEF General Counsel Arnold Hauptman, a very wise man, wrote an article for the November/December 2013 issue of Avanti in which he offered a list of challenges I would have to resolve in my […]
Over the last few years, franchisees have had to deal with many changes within the 7-Eleven system that have affected our bottom lines. Credit card fees and gasoline commission changes are two that quickly come to mind. But there is one change on the horizon that will severely impact our businesses in the coming […]
My dear grandmother would often say that children should be seen and not heard. Her generation believed that nothing valuable could be learned from what children thought or would say to their parents or other adults. Fortunately, at least in the child-rearing arena, this theory has been completely debunked. We now know that our […]
“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” —George Bernard Shaw Recently, the franchisee community became aware of certain changes taking place in the top leadership positions at SEI corporate headquarters in Dallas. I am not a pessimist (perhaps a cynic at heart) but on this topic […]
Franchisees dread the “Ivory Tower” syndrome that seems to permeate 7-Eleven, Inc. (SEI). The latest example showing how removed corporate is from our store-level reality was the Thanksgiving Holiday McLane ordering and delivery schedule. SEI made the unilateral decision to have its franchise stores receive a single McLane delivery Thanksgiving week. This was communicated […]
As SEI rolls out the Hybrid Business Transformation model, with its consolidated beer and soda deliveries and McLane deliveries to stores all set on designated days, many questions continue to arise about this new distribution program. One of the questions we’ve always asked is, “Who is the customer when it comes to BT?” Is […]
Most franchisees are aware by now that the cost for contract maintenance from SEI and FM Facility Maintenance has escalated. Every store should have received a packet from FM showing the new pricing summaries for each piece of equipment in your store. In the packet, FM mentions their continuing efforts to remain transparent in […]
Among independent franchisee associations in the United States, the National Coalition stands out—not only because of its 41-year longevity, its remarkable accomplishments, and its role in safeguarding the rights of franchise owners—but also because of its open and democratic governance structure. The Declaration of Independence, executed on July 4, 1776, serves as the foundation […]
Opacity is defined as “the condition of lacking transparency or translucence, or obscurity of meaning.” If something is transparent, nothing is hidden from plain sight and everything is exposed—warts and all. If an object is opaque, then nothing inside is visible. During SEI’s recent CEO roundtable discussion in Dallas with various franchisees, our CEO […]
