Hi;
You know I never thought I would say this. I hate the way the Franchise world works. I have had two franchise Business over the years and they both thrived ,with little problems with Warehouses etc.
Now ,that said,I don't think the corporate entities that sell these franchises have any idea what the customer wants. I believe the marketing folks are about twelve light years out from where they should be .
Good for instance, Got to speak with the distribution Center for Hobby - Lobby once. They told me that they try to send what they know sells to their locations. If so where are they getting their information? Surely Not from the modelers of Plastic or Rail around here.
They sell more home decoration chotskies than real stuff. This because of the many Folks ( mostly women I think) who like decorating the house with " Stuff". They do have a good arts and crafts area though. Now Hobby - Town.
Here's a well known Hobby Franchise operation. I would be screaming at the top of my lungs because of the lax attitude of their suppliers ( Or Warehouses ). Why? Well ya can't make no coin with empty shelves, no matter how expensive some of the stuff is!
As a franchisee, you are expected to make at least the targeted income, Or they may think You as the Franchisee aren't following the business plan they set you up with! Are they going to blame Corporate ? NOPE!
Many a dream is shattered when the marketing plan is wrong for the area. Why? well, here's a fer instance. Say I bought a franchise from "UNCLE PETES MODEL HOUSE " ( A Fictitious Company). Well first they pick the location, supposedly after much study of foot and car traffic, parking and so forth.
Well, you have to carry the suggested merchandise to cover this market. OOPS!! The wigs got it wrong! So you struggle with deliveries of stuff you knew really didn't do well in your store. Meanwhile the stuff bringing customers in, you watch get stale or non existant. Why? delayed shipment or " Well,we don't carry that stock anymore" .
I don't know how many times I told corporate in the Restaurant Franchise, We have Blue laws in Arkansas. We Cannot sell alcholic products on Sunday,PERIOD ! But they still Complained about low beer sales on the weekend!
Hobby - Town carries ( or did carry ) lots of R.C. stuff. High Dollar stuff that. R.C.Boats though ? Only what they could sell as R.T.R. Could I get a Smit Rotterdam Tug with Fibreglas hull from them ? NOPE. But I could get dozens of Searay wannabes that ran to fast for my source of water. Or the Smaller R.T.Rs that you turned them on and then as they hit the water they were activated. What The Heck? How can you bench test this kind of thing?
I won't go into planes. I still have my Cox .049 Flying Circus, Still looks great and it is full functioning R.C. now instead of Control-Line. Many are amazed that she still flies. Well, gotta be truthful here. She's had a nassive overhaul some years back. Never try to land on a Pickup hood while the truck is moving toward you.
Wasn't on purpose though, The control Line broke! Now Armor and Gundam and Plane,and Ship modelers have the same complaint . Hill Country Hobbies has the stuff,( Well,Most of it) But he can't have 40% off like H.L. Sometimes that's the only way I can even get paint. Shoot, five bottles at H.T the last time was $29.56 !!
One more thing then I will go away. Aftermarket is getting harder too. When's the last time you saw Generic rails and ladders for 1/96 scale civilian ships,Much less any of the other scales?