I didn’t see this one coming. Planet Smoothie is solid brand with a loyal customer base. I hope Planet Smoothie received a significant premium in this acquisition by Tasti D-Lite, and the existing franchisees have some protections. Tasti D-Lite was acquired by a private equity firm in 2007 majority owned by Jim Amos, who promptly appointed himself CEO after the acquisition. Amos was formerly CEO of Mail Boxes Etc before selling to UPS, former CEO of Sona MedSpa and I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt. I don’t know Amos personally, but from what I have heard he is a classic promoter. He’s likable and has the right persona for a CEO. But, from what I hear he runs his mouth too much and gets into trouble confidently over-promising results and being extremely difficult with existing franchisees. He’s good as selling franchises and controlling the franchisor’s cash flow. He’s had to settle out of court in a dishonesty-related law suits in his previous CEO roles. The hybride ice cream/yogurt pumped by Tasti D-Lite is smooth and creamy thanks to multiple gums and thickeners, but most people only care about the relatively low calories versus full fat ice cream. I understand the strategic benefit for Tasti D-Lite: they can distribute their frozen yogurt through the 100+ existing Planet Smoothie locations, the customer base has a lot of crossover, smoothie recipes can incorporate frozen yogurt, and hopefully per-unit increase sales will increase more than 25%. It looks like the preferred transition option for franchisees is to allow units to co-brand the concept. I’m sure the Planet Smoothie franchise agreement was favorable for Amos. My guess is there is a clause whereby existing franchisees have to at least transition to selling the yogurt menu quite soon, but conversions to dual-branded units probably can’t be …

New smoothie franchises seem to be opening as fast as Starbucks and now Chipotle’s. Unlike coffee, a “smoothie” is not a staple of the American palate and never will be. Nonetheless, the smoothie business has been hot lately with the likes of Jamba Juice (who reinvented the market), Smoothie King, Maui Wowi, and Planet Smoothie dominating the marketplace. They’ve been riding the omnipresent “health” wave by using tasty fruits and vegetables and vitamin powders in their potions. But how long will smoothies be perceived as healthy? You should be asking that question if you are thinking of buying a smoothie franchise. Just as financial markets always returning to the equilibrium, so do businesses. Eventually the product will commoditize, the market will saturate, and prices will drop (See the sub sandwich market). The process can be accelerated by negative news, just as the low carb movement (which I followed for a while) subsided. For example, if the national spotlight continues to highlight the high calorie count of smoothies defeating the impression of a healthy alternative to fast food, same store sales will suffer leaving smoothie franchisees with a lot of silent blenders. It’s already happening in the United Kingdom. Mississippi’s The Sun Herald reports: Thinking of ordering a smoothie for a healthful light snack between meals? Although these sweet fruity treats can be low in fat and rich in vitamins and nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin C, they can have a lot of sugar and calories. For example, a medium-sized Citrus Squeeze from smoothie chain Jamba Juice packs about five times as much sugar (103 grams) as a regular-sized Hershey’s milk chocolate bar (22 grams). It has 470 calories – more than a McDonald’s double cheeseburger (460 calories). Instead, try a lower-calorie smoothie option like of one of Jamba’s …

Raging Brands, the company and franchisor of the successful Moe’s, P.J.’s Coffee, and Planet Smoothie, seems to have found another interesting niche – quick-service barbecue. What I like about Shane’s Rib Shack is that it boasts a very authentic, down-home “look” that is timeless and fun. The building literally looks like a rough shack. In the franchise business, the ability to enable customers to step through the front doors and enter another time in history, or another distant locale, is the type of dining experience that will last and benefit from tremendous word of mouth. Assuming the food is above average, I’d consider buy this BBQ franchise. Growth plans may be a bit excessive though: Shane’s has some bone-breaking long-term growth plans to boast 1000 deals in development by 2010…just five years away. To date, this new-to-franchising concept has about 75 deals in development across nine states. Investors from Phoenix to Cincinnati to Tampa have put money on the national appeal and financial success of Shane’s On a side note – BBQ joint Famous Dave’s sales increased this past quarter by 5%.

VERY OUT OF DATE.  Do a search instead.  This was manually updated March 21, 2006 Companies Mentioned in Posts (likely incomplete):Automotive 1-800 RADIATORS Oil Butler Lube N’ Go On-Site-Lube Business & Home Services 1-800-WATER-DAMAGE Bartercard Garagetek Help-U-Sell Home Instead Homewatch Caregivers My Girl Friday PropertyGuys.com Sears Carpet & Upholstery Tax Centers of America Cleaning & Maintenance none Computer & Internet (some are listed in “Retail”) Screenz Food and Restaurant Arby’s Auntie Anne’s Blimpies Cheeburger Cheeburger Chipotle Dippin’ Dots Dream Dinners Doc Green’s Gourmet Salad Dominic’s of New York The Dugout Durango Grill Fazoli’s Fire of Brazil Fogo de Chao Goldstar Chili Jamba Juice Jerq’zine Krispy Kream Lenny’s Sub Shops Mauwi Wauwi Original Hamburger Stand Panaderia Taza Papa John’s Pizza Factory Pizza Patron Pretzel Time Quiznos Red Rock Chili San Francisco Soup Co Shane’s Rib Shack Skyline Chili Smoothie King Smotthie Planet Soup Nazi Steak-out Subway Submarina Sub Station II Super Suppers The Soup Box Supercuts Suzanne’s Kitchen We’re Rolling Pretzel Company Wetzel’s Pretzels Z Pizza Zoup! Fresh Soup Co (List all sub franchises) Health & Fitness Curves Liberty Fitness Home Building & Repair Services See “Business and Home Services” above Personnel & Staffing none Pet Retail and Services Camp Bow Wow Doody Calls The Pet Pantry Wag My Tail Interquest Detection Canines Pets Are Inn Retail Franchises Ace Hardware AuctionDrop Battery Plus Best Cuts GNC Educational Outfitters Fantastic Sams Fastframe Foot Solutions Friendly Computers Geeks on Call GNC Hair Cuttery Herman’s World of Sports Imagine This Sold Orbit Drop Play It Again Sports QuikDrop Roosters Men’s Grooming Centers Screenz Snips Its Sports Clips Stone Mountain Carpet Mill Tom’s Foods We the People Categories: eBay drop offs (generally) Hair Travel & Hotel none Industry Lists & Research 2004 Same Store Sales Growth of QSRs (quick service restaurants) Royalty and Advertising …