Buying existing franchise coffee store

[Crester]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum and also new to the coffee industry. I am looking into buying an existing It's a grind coffee franchise. The numbers look decent and the store location etc. is also good but I am concerned that most of the other It's a grind stores have been closing in the last few years. I saw some old posts on this site talking about this franchise but they were from almost 10 years ago so things may have changed since then. I wanted to get some advice on the It's a Grind franchise in general and if anybody has had any experience (positive or negative) dealing with the company as a franchisee. Does anybody know why so many of their stores have closed in the last couple of years. Is there a way to find out what the company future plans are.

Thanks for any insight.

Crester

 

[Bacchus]

Lotsa stuff on this franchise via a Google search. Have you read this:

IT?S A GRIND COFFEE franchise Archives - Unhappy Franchisee : Unhappy Franchisee

 

[Crester]

Thanks Bacchus. Yes, I did see this. I also looked at their evaluation criteria and did some research. As far as I understand they came low in the rankings due to the fact that the company fell short in lender friendliness and the declining franchise unit count. Even though these factors are important, I still couldn't find the reason for it and am trying to understand if the company has changed its vision or if it is poor management.

If if anyone can share any personal experiences with this franchise or franchior, please let me know or private message me. Would be grateful.

Thanks again

Crester

 

[John P]

For the most part, their name has little, if any, value. In terms of marketing, they say a lot of things that sound good on their website, but they don't translate to good coffee, and I would guess that corporate management and thoughtful, aggressive PR is not their forte.

You have to ask yourself, have they proven they can do X better than I can?
Unless you are gifted at closing stores and having an average, at the very best, product.... the answer is "probably not".

Franchising a brand that is not nationally known is never a great idea, and even then, it rarely is.

 

[producerjohn]

Don't do franchise. You will be a slave to corporate who is more interested in making money off of you than helping you make a profit.

 

[Giovanni]

Definitely agree with above. Stay away from franchises. Do your own thing and you will have much more freedom to expand.