{"id":21496,"date":"2012-05-08T13:23:04","date_gmt":"2012-05-08T17:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=21496"},"modified":"2012-05-08T13:34:33","modified_gmt":"2012-05-08T17:34:33","slug":"bahamas-franchisee-example-of-rogue-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2012\/05\/bahamas-franchisee-example-of-rogue-success","title":{"rendered":"Bahamas Franchisee – Example Of Rogue Success"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jamba Juice, Marina Village<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Franchises play by the rules. They\u2019re temples of conformity. They deliver the same sanitized experience regardless of location, exalting a corporate \u201cconcept\u201d over the individual liberty of the store manager.<\/p>\n

Enter the pioneer franchisee. She recalls our defiant origins in the American wilderness. She stands up to the corporate empire and declares her independence, transforming her store into a beacon of personal expression. At least she does in theory. In the franchise world, genuine rogues are a rare species.<\/p>\n

Still, while straying too far from the corporate template defeats the purpose of franchising, wise companies recognize the need for a bit of local flair. Ultimate Book of Franchises author Rievas Levonsky allows that some popular chain stores could be trending toward personalization. A seaside Dunkin\u2019 Donuts, for instance, might embrace nautically-themed decorations. Burger Kings outside of the country have added beetroot (the United Kingdom) and teriyaki (Japan) to their Whoppers. In 2010, Tom and Candace Spiel of Riverside, Calif., opened a \u201cgreen\u201d McDonalds with photovoltaic solar panels and low-flow plumbing, hoping to honor what Candace called \u201cthe green focus of \u2026 California\u2019s first emerald city.\u201d<\/p>\n

None of these tweaks are exactly revolutionary, however. Where instead are car dealerships that dabble in baked goods? The Wendy\u2019s that will do your dry-cleaning on the side? The smoothie chain store that decided to sell turkey sandwiches for breakfast?<\/p>\n

This last example is real. In 2003, Jamba Juice established a business arm in the Bahamas. Don Spina, the director of operations for Swankclub Limited, an umbrella company that owns franchises of Johnny Rockets, Quiznos, Tony Roma\u2019s (before it closed), and Jamba Juice, moved from New York to serve as on-site manager. It wasn\u2019t long before Spina noticed a problem: His smoothie shop sat across the street from a Starbucks and down the block from a Haagen Dazs. The tourists he was counting on were opting for ice cream and Frappuccinos over fruit shakes, and the store was losing money.<\/p>\n

In this case, says Spina, the Jamba Juice \u201cconcept\u201d proved a poor fit for the location. Luxury health food seduced customers in California, where the brand originated, but most Bahamians weren\u2019t interested in trendy $5 fruit drinks. Meanwhile, the tourists were largely families looking to indulge their kids\u2019 sweet tooth\u2014and perhaps get a burst of caffeine in the bargain. Spina\u2019s smoothie shop didn\u2019t stand a chance.<\/p>\n

As a Jamba Juice franchisee, Spina was well aware of the contract binding him to a particular frozen product. But he chose to take a risk.<\/p>\n

Spina drew up a proposal for a Jamba Juice food menu and contacted the corporate nucleus. Cleaving to the brand\u2019s image of health and wholesomeness, he suggested for breakfast whole-wheat English muffins topped with egg whites, low-fat cheese, and ham or turkey. Lunch possibilities included a grilled chicken sandwich on ciabatta bread and a panoply of Caesar and vegetarian salads.<\/p>\n

Jamba Inc. was hesitant\u2014any deviation from the Ur-store might dilute the overarching \u201cconcept,\u201d harming its other franchises. But it recognized the alternative was shuttering the Bahamas shop. (In fact, one Jamba Juice location had at that point already adopted a food menu. This was in Hawaii, where the smoothie franchise faced similarly adverse demographics.) Spina says the company sent over a group of inspectors to taste his handiwork.<\/p>\n

After a flurry of negotiations over calorie counts, Spina got the green light to unveil his food line. That year, 2003, his franchise was one of only six Jamba stores to gross over $2 million, he says. Spina estimates that 25 to 30 percent of his sales came from the food menu. \u201cWe sold a truckload of turkey for breakfast,\u201d he marvels, \u201cWho knew?\u201d<\/p>\n

The rest of the story is as bittersweet as a smoothie blended from half-ripe mangoes. Five years after Spina rolled out his new products, the recession rolled in, decimating tourism in the Bahamas. He closed his doors in January 2011. But his concept had caught on. Jamba Inc. launched its own food line in June 2009. Today, Jambas around the country offer steel-cut oatmeal, smokehouse chicken flatbread, and fruit and yogurt parfaits.<\/p>\n

After Starbucks purchased the juice company Evolution French in November 2010\u2014and announced plans to open juice bars along the West Coast later this year\u2014Jamba\u2019s move away from smoothie-centrism appeared prescient. \u201cWe kind of joke about Jamba versus Goliath,\u201d says Jamba chief executive James White. \u201cBut rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spina, meanwhile, has found other ways to spin franchise gold. His Bahamas-based Johnny Rockets was recently named the highest-grossing international restaurant in the chain. \u201cThe three most important tenets of franchising,\u201d he tells me, \u201care service, service, and service. The four most important are service, service, service, and food.\u201d Spina also praises corporate managers who check in frequently on their franchisees. \u201cI like to do my thing,\u201d he explains, \u201cbut we all need our asses kicked sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the truly entrepreneurial spirits, though, there may be a limit. Spina confides that he\u2019s collaborating with a friend to launch his own coffee franchise in the States\u2014\u201ca cross between Panera, Starbucks, and Dunkin\u2019 Donuts.\u201d O, pioneers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2003, a Jamba Juice franchise opened in the Bahamas and quickly started offering sandwiches. Although dying Bahamas tourism killed the local Jamba Juice franchise, the chain adopted the concept.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[109,153],"class_list":["post-21496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","tag-atlantis","tag-business-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}