Archive for Items Categorized 'Avanti Magazine', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.
In my high school and college years, I proudly worked in retail. Each of my employers reminded me to always respect the customer, because without them, they would correctly say, I would not have a job. In my later years as a shopper, I have rarely encountered someone who did not treat me with […]
Where do we go from here? This is the big question percolating among members of the franchise community, SEI, and even within the vendor community. In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. isolated himself from the demands of the civil rights movement he helped found. He rented a small house in Jamaica with no […]
In a recent article by former National Coalition legal counsel Arnold “Arnie” Hauptman, he spelled out everything I need to accomplish as the new chairman within six months before I could relax and enjoy the rest of the year. The list included encroachment, the tiered 7-Eleven charge or “Split,” franchise fees, the DVR security […]
Franchisees understand the importance of a clean operation. We understand we are competing for customers, and that we need to keep our stores clean to attract repeat business. We understand that if one store isn’t clean or keeping up with established standards, that store impacts all the other 7-Elevens around it because the experience […]
As many of you may be aware, an increasing number of franchisees are reporting issues regarding chargebacks to Operating Expenses. It appears that SEI has been changing its policies and procedures regarding allowable Operating Expenses in ways that are contrary to the specific terms of the Franchise Agreement. SEI has also been applying a […]
What has caused the deterioration of the once sound relationship between 7-Eleven Inc. and franchisees? I doubt that anyone can pinpoint a day or event when things changed. I believe we all agree we can never return to the days when 7-Eleven was the only real player in the convenience store business. The reality […]
Most franchisees are probably are aware of the movement to raise the minimum wage in cities and states across the country. There are several variations of what the minimum wage should be, and some cities and states have already raised their minimum wage rates. For instance, Connecticut and Maryland just raised theirs to $10.10 […]
Over the last few years, SEI’s Loss Prevention Department has gone through many changes, including changing their approach to handling certain critical inventory situations with franchisees. Loss Prevention has even changed its name to Asset Protection, which has led many franchisees to wonder whose assets they are protecting more—franchisees’ or SEI’s? The changes within […]
In the past, it used to be that visits from our business consultants to our stores consisted of discussing new items, planning sales opportunities, and generally having them assist us in resolving certain issues in our stores that affect our businesses and us financially. Now that the 7-Eleven system has changed—and continues to do […]
Ideally, the relationship between Asset Protection and franchisee stores should be a productive one, but more importantly one that helps build a business culture conducive to increasing sales and profits for franchisees and SEI. Currently, there seems to a checklist mentality at 7-Eleven, where Asset Protection looks for faults and punishes us with LONS […]
