Good, Bad, and Other News! – October 2021

Welcome back to our monthly news roundup. Feeling whipsawed by the pandemic? After summer’s optimism was dampened by the tidal wave of delta variant cases, there now is a feeling that the worst is behind us (except for the unvaccinated, who continue to clog the nation’s hospitals, especially in the South). But as we always say, and history has shown: franchising carries on with growth and expansion, despite all.

Here’s your chance to follow the leaders, every third Tuesday of the month! And if you’re not doing it already, send us your good (and other) news here!

POST-COVID – REOPENING & RECOVERY

Big Hotel Brands Bet on All-Inclusive Resorts To Counter Covid-19 Slump

House Republicans Target SBA Direct Lending, Including EIDL

Dollar Stores Hit a Pandemic Downturn

The Co-Working Industry Is About to Experience a $13 Billion Boom

WeWork To Report $1.5B Yearly Loss Weeks Before $9B IPO

HIRING & EMPLOYMENT

Weds, Oct. 20: IFA Labor & Hiring Webinar Focuses on the Data

4 Reasons Employee Retention Is Critical To Long-Term Success

Study: Increased Pay Alone Won’t Attract Employees

Fast Food Customers Return, But Workers Don’t, Triggering Major Changes

5 Reasons People Quit, and 10 Things You Can Do To Make Them Stay

Leveraging Marketing Tech To Recruit the Best Restaurant Employees

Raising Cane’s Corporate Staff To Work Inside Stores, Recruit Talent Amid Labor Shortage

COMPANY NEWS

BurgerFi To Acquire Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings for $161 Million

Papa John’s Signs 100-Unit Deal with Sun Holdings, Brand’s Largest U.S. Deal

Kitchen United Acquires Ghost Kitchen Developer Zuul

Franklin Junction Adds Dickey’s Barbecue Pit to Roster of Host Kitchen Brand Partners

Little Caesars Pursues New England Expansion, Targets 50 Units by 2026

10-Unit Thai Concept Rooster & Rice Launches Franchise Model

LEGAL

7-Eleven National Coalition Files Petition with FTC To Investigate Franchising To Better Protect Franchisees

FRANCHISING CARES

Hungry Howie’s 12th Love, Hope & Pizza Campaign Partners with National Breast Cancer Foundation

Panera Bread Partners with Susan G. Komen Foundation To Fight Breast Cancer

Dutch Bros Raises More than $695,000 for Local Youth Organizations

MARKETING/CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

What the Pandemic Continues To Teach Us About Customer Wants and Needs

Consumer Assumptions Based on Age No Longer Apply

Email Is the Preferred Marketing Channel for Hungry Millennials

Restaurants Spend Big for Upgraded Wintertime Outdoor Dining

How To Take Charge of Your Brand with a Balanced Marketing Strategy

What Marketers Need To Know About the IAB’s Latest Ad Fraud Takedown

Burger King Tests Plant-Based Nuggets in 4 U.S. Cities as of Oct. 11

McDonald’s To Test McPlant Meatless Burger at 8 U.S. Restaurants Starting Nov. 3

TECHNOLOGY

Top 10 Digital Transformation Trends for 2022

PEOPLE & MILESTONES

Papa Gino’s Celebrates 60th Birthday

THE MAX Challenge Celebrates Its 10-Year Anniversary