The U.S. Federal Trade Commission appears ready to take a harder look at franchising.
This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast “A Deeper Dive” features two people who are asking the agency to do just that. Eric Karp, an attorney with the law firm of Witmer Karp Warner and Ryan, and Subway operator and franchisee advocate Keith Miller, explain their recent request of the commission to investigate nine franchises.
Those franchises include Subway, Dickey’s and 7-Eleven, along with IHG Hotels, Choice Hotels, the UPS Store, Experimax, Supercuts and Massage Envy.
Karp, among other things, represents the Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees, which co-authored the request for an investigation, which asks the commission to look at issues related to the contracts between franchisors and franchisees. Miller as an advocate has been pushing for more oversight of franchising.
The two discuss the potential impact of their request for an investigation, whether it will result in any action, and why the commission appears ready to look into the issue more thoroughly than it has in the past. They also talk about why such regulations are necessary.
Also, we are now on Alexa. Simply go to this link here and be logged into your Amazon account, look for “A Deeper Dive podcast” to enable the skill. Once it’s enabled all you need to do to listen is say, “Alexa, play A Deeper Dive.” You may also enable the daily short news podcast “RB Daily” by searching for the RB Daily podcast.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.