Sure, the franchise world is tough, but measuring success isn’t all that complicated, according to Don Fox, chief executive of Firehouse Subs. “Growth is not an option,” Fox told Dunkin’s franchise owners gathered at the DDIFO National Conference, held this year at Foxwoods Resort Casino on Oct. 30-31. “In business as in most things in…
Don’t look now but the dreaded sugary beverage tax is back. That’s the word from Cicely Simpson, executive vice president for public affairs at the National Restaurant Association. Health activists around the country are now pushing a new crop of initiatives that would slap taxes on soda and other drinks. “This is coming back up…
Hard to fathom how elected officials can see an idea fail in one community only to think the failure was so good that they should give it a try in their own community, but that appears to be what happens more than not. The City of Philadelphia adopted a 1.5 cent per ounce tax on…
The City of Brotherly Love passed a special tax on sugary beverages back in June of 2016 with many promises from Mayor Jim Kenney about the money the levy would generate without hurting Philadelphia businesses. It now seems he was wrong on both counts! We’ve advised in the past how the money the tax has…
The Cook County soda tax is going the way of 1917 national predecessor, repealed! The effort first got its real momentum a few weeks ago and then a budget deal was reached last week that cut the tax from the county budget. Tuesday, the County Finance Committee endorsed the repeal effort by a vote of…
We’ll start with the disappointing revenue numbers in Philadelphia generated by the City’s new soda tax for the month of August. The tax, which was projected to generate enough money to fund pre-K educational programs, community schools as well as rebuilding a number of the public facilities in the city missed its target again as…
You win some, you lose some. As we head into the fall, franchise owners from Dunkin’ Donuts and other QSR systems have some reasons for optimism and some things to worry about as well. Increasing the minimum wage has been all the rage over the past few years, with union and other activists successfully pushing…
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, who dropped his campaign for reelection back in May, resigned this week as Mayor in the face of the fifth person (this one his younger cousin) coming forward to accuse him of child sexual abuse. Murray officially vacated the office effective at 5PM on Wednesday and City Council President Bruce Harrell…
Speaking of being in limbo, retailers in Cook County, Illinois are between the proverbial rock and the hard place as relates the county imposed tax on sugary drinks. As we advised last week, the FDA has said that collecting the tax and then giving it back as a refund violates the federal food stamp program…
In so many ways, it could be described as poetic justice, but the federal government has threatened to withhold as much as $87 million from Cook Country as a result of their imposition of a countrywide tax on sugary beverages. The rub comes from the fact that purchases made with food stamps are exempt from…
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