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(FranchisePick.Com) Dale & Thomas Popcorn, the NY-based gourmet popcorn franchise company partially owned by and partially named for NBA great Isiah Thomas has announced that it will commence its franchise program in 2008.

Please disregard all previous stories that Dale & Thomas Popcorn had commenced franchising in 2006.

Or 2007.

Here’s what’s poppening, according to a release from Dale & Thomas’ PR firm:
Dale and Thomas Popcorn Commences Franchising Program in 2008
ENGLEWOOD, N.J., Feb. 25 — Dale and Thomas Popcorn announced today that it is launching a new and innovative franchise program in choose areas of the Northeast. This move signals a new phase of expansion for Dale and Thomas to further share its chef crafted, gourmet popcorn with its friends and loyal customers throughout the country. Through its network of company owned and operated popcorn centers, and after testing multiple formats, Dale and Thomas has quickly built the country’s leading brand of gourmet popcorn. Led by industry veterans from both the food and retail industry, and backed by well known investment firms Goldman Sachs and Sun Capital Partners, Dale and Thomas has developed a formula for easily copying the experience while maintaining the highest quality popcorn and commitment to customer service.

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To facilitate the expansion of Dale and Thomas centers, the company has secured a relationship with Northboro Builders Inc., to design and build these new Dale and Thomas Popcorn centers. Northboro’s stellar reputation and experience in the franchise industry, along with its history of delivering excellence and simplicity in “turnkey” design and building services, ensures the success of look and feel of each Dale and Thomas location.

“We are enthusiastic and eager to launch our new franchise program,” states Terry Pritikin, Chief Retail Officer, of Dale and Thomas Popcorn. “Since opening our Times Square location three years ago, we’ve learned a great deal about our stores, our products, and our customers, not only through evaluating the service and merchandise in Dale and Thomas company owned stores, but through our relationship with our two existing franchise locations. We have taken the ideal from our research and have created an exciting new paradigm of franchising, with our ready-to-pop Franchise program.”

Dale and Thomas will be taking franchise applications immediately and has planned rollouts of the new centers beginning in mid 2008.

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About Dale and Thomas

Dale and Thomas is a privately held company, which manufactures America’s first line of chef crafted, gourmet popcorn products. The Englewood, New Jersey based snack food company sells through wholesale, retail, and direct channels. Dale and Thomas also has a wholesale line: Popcorn, Indiana(TM), a premium kettle corn line, sold at supermarkets, club stores and gourmet boutiques throughout the country. The company has also reached a high level of recognition as it was selected by Oprah Magazine as one of her favorite things. The company’s Chef Ed has appeared on the Today Show and The View, as well as other national TV appearances. The company has also been featured on the CBS Early Show and the Big Idea with Donny Deutsch on CNBC. Currently there are eight Dale and Thomas company retail stores and two franchise locations, located in New York City, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Florida, Michigan, and Massachusetts. Dale and Thomas Popcorn is also available at www.daleandthomas.com and 1800-POPCORN.

SOURCE Dale and Thomas Popcorn

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ISIAH THOMAS’ POPCORN FRANCHISE? LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Report: FCC OKs DirecTV, Liberty Deal
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(FranchisePick.Com)  In the motion picture Liar Liar, Jim Carrey plays an attorney whose career  starts unravelling when he’s suddenly unable to tell lies.  That’s pretty much what happened to Vahan Karian and his Pure Weight Loss nee LA Weight Loss chain of diet centers, according to Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna.

According to Seattle Weekly:  “Twice now, these purveyors of slimness have settled with Washington Say Attorney General Rob McKenna over charges of deceptive marketing practices. The company [LA Weight Loss Centers] has since split apart and changed its name, but the new chain—known as Pure Weight Loss Centers, with a dozen locations in Washington—abruptly went out of business last month.

“Purity, it appears, just didn’t pay. The company’s business plan ‘was not sustainable’ once the company began operating ‘consistent with the Consumer Protection Act,’ says Assistant Attorney General Jack Zurlini, who spearheaded the LA investigation. ‘Our investigation found [that LA] was a very sophisticated bait-and-switch, high-pressure sales’ outfit, he states. Clients were talked into paying up front for lots of bars and supplements of dubious efficacy. (The company has not admitted to any wrongdoing.) But business didn’t go as well, he recommends, ‘once they started disclosing things fairly and fully.’”

If those burned by LA Weight Loss nee Pure Weight Loss weren’t irate enough, writer Mark D. Fefer adds this gem:

“A TV reporter in Miami recently reported finding “dozens of refund claim forms thrown out in a Dumpster behind [a] vacant Pure Weight Loss Center” in south Florida. ”

HAVE AN OPINION?  LEAVE A COMMENT!

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 (FranchisePick.Com)  Cena, a growing meal prep (”Meal Assembly Kitchen”) franchise opportunity was founded by foreign language instructor Tammy Badinger, who opened her first unit in 2005 and began offering franchises within less than a year.  Unlike many others in the industry, Badinger is pretty proud of her numbers.  We’ve extracted the Cena franchise and industry numbers from a current article (Meal-prep chain serves up success) in the Spokane Journal, transposed them for no good reason, and display them here for your review and comments (please leave below):

2005:  Year first store opened 

2006:  Year  first franchise opened 

22:  Cena locations currently open 

7:  Cena franchises to open this month*

17:  Cena franchises to open in 2008*

1,123: meal-preparation outlets in the U.S. in 2006 **

 1,353:   meal-preparation outlets in the U.S. in 2007**

 14:   entrees  available at Cena stores at any given time

$260:  Typical cost to assemble 12 meals that serve 2-6 people each

$4:  What that comes out to per serving

$15:  Typical cost of a Gourmet to Go pick up meal for 2-3 people

$5-7:   What that comes out to per serving

$200K:  Estimated cost to open a Cena franchise location

$170,000:  The cost of inventory, equipment, and furnishings.

$30,000  The Cena franchise fee
5%  Ongoing Cena royalty fee (on gross sales)
2% Ongoing Cena marketing fee (on gross sales)

 10:  # of years of franchise agreement

3-4:  # of employees of typical Cena meal prep franchise outlet

1200 - 1800:   square footage of average Cena franchise location.

100:  # of  regular customers spending $150 a month needed for a franchise to be profitable [Badinger]

9:  # of months it “generally takes” for franchisees to reach profitability [Badinger]

25- 65  Age range of  typical customer, predominantly women with families.  [Badinger]

6:  # of Cena Franchising  corporate employees. 

+20%:   Cena Franchising corporate revenue goal for 2008.

0-1:  Number of years operating history prior to franchising
*  Projected  **Easy Meal Prep Association

Are you familiar with the Cena or the Cena franchise?  Is Cena succeeding where other meal prep franchises are struggling?  Leave a comment;  share your thoughts.

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