Archive for Items Categorized 'Avanti Magazine', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

What IS The Policy On Operating Expenses?

  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 […]

How Did We Get To This Point?

  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 […]

Coming Soon To A City Near You: $15 Minimum Wage

  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 […]

Value Of The Weekly POS Activity Summary

  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 […]

The Value Of Weekly Meetings With Your Business Consultant

  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 […]

Transforming Asset Protection Into A Supportive Unit

  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 […]

Proud To Join The Team

  This is my first Avanti column as the newly appointed General Counsel to the National Coalition, so I thought some introductory comments would be in order. First, I am honored and humbled by the vote of the Board to confirm Joe Galea’s nomination of me as General Counsel. I pledge to serve in that […]

The Beatings Will Continue Until The Morale Improves!

  An organization is in many ways a living, breathing organism. It will have a structure, a purpose and a mission. The various parts must be in relative cohesion to the whole lest chaos prevails, and if there is chaos then the organism may well get sick and possibly die. This applies to entities great […]

RGIS–The Single Source Solution?

  SEI recently made the decision to change to a single source vendor to provide the quarterly mandated audits of franchisee stores. What is concerning is that RGIS was not one of the top companies recommended by the Audit Selection Task Force that reviewed the audit process and interviewed the audit companies that participated in […]

The National Business Leadership Council

  Several years ago, SEI dissolved the President’s Leadership Council (PLC), which had as its members all the FOA presidents from across the country and many corporate higher-ups. The PLC achieved many good things for franchisees and the 7-Eleven system, due in part to the effective dissemination of information by the PLC members to their […]