FranSynergy Acquires Cuppy's Coffee, Smoothies & More

Business is a fast paced and sometime difficult road to manuever. It is also a series of evolutions from startup to completion. And it is in that process that Cuppy's Coffee is proud to announce that FranSynergy has acquired our fast growing coffee company to navigate it thru the next stage in that evolution. Below is a copy of the letter sent to all franchisees acknowledging the transition and welcoming the new management team to Cuppy's Coffee.

Dear Franchisees,

Cuppy's has grown leaps and bounds since our humble beginnings in May of 2006. We currently have more than 231 franchisees nationwide and 73 open stores, with many more stores in the works!

It's our ultimate goal to see the Cuppy's brand grow strong and be successful. In order for this to happen, change is inevitable. Our objective is to always keep you, our franchisee, up to date as these changes occur.

With that in mind, we have some really exciting news! We are pleased to announce that FranSynergy Inc., lead by Dale Nabors, CEO, has acquired Cuppy's Coffee & More, Inc.

Dale Nabors has over 25 years of franchising experience and worked for the Dwyer Group from March, 1995 to August, 2000....

To read the entire letter follow this link.

American Franchise Icons Cave In to Signs of the Times

The signs of the time is change. American icons such as Pizza Hut, Burger King and now Nestles Butterfinger are all jumping on the bandwagon of change. The new class of marketing experts are taking long established franchises and turning them on the time in an effort to be either politically correct and or capture the share of upcoming Y Generation consumers.

Will it succeed? Only time will tell. Some institutions such as Coke have waded out into this pool of reformulation, renaming and have fell on their faces. Consumers are a weird bunch and we await their outcries and/or acceptance of change.

For those who are at a lost, here are the changes.

Pizza Hut is now Pasta Hut, Burger King is adding the Whopper Bar, and Nestles' 80 year old Butterfinger will now be called The Finger. Marketing campaigns have already begun to educate the public to the changes.

Pizza to Pasta: Pizza Hut is Now Pasta Hut

Nothing stays the same. Business moves at the speed of light and keeping up with that light Pizza Hut after 50 years is changing its name to Pasta Hut. This comes on the heel of a successful pasta campaign featuring two new pasta dishes ready for delivery.

Read the entire article at QSR Magazine:

"For 50 years we've been all about pizza," says Bergren. "As we've prepared for the launch of our new line of Tuscani Pastas our customers have consistently told us these pastas are so good we should change our name to Pasta Hut. Starting tomorrow, Pizza Hut is Pasta Hut." more...

"Pimp This..." BK Plans New Menu and Dining Experience:QSR Probably Not to Far Behind

It was just a matter of time. The success of TV reality series like "Pimp my Ride" and "Pimp my Truck" has trickled over into our fast food dining experience. The next generation of BK restaurants may include the phrase "Pimp my Burger".

Burger King announced plan to build a new version of their restaurant called the Whopper Bar that will sell a wider selections of signature burgers in a hipper more Gen Y atmosphere.

Menu items have yet to be finalized but expect names like Western Whopper, the Texas Double Whopper and the Angry Whopper (a burger topped with spicy onions) to rule the board.

If successful look for newer more hip names from all the aspects of the quick serve industry:

Pimp my Coffee, Mack out my Mac, Load my Latte; I can see the marketing gurus chomping at the bits.

Read more about Burger King's vision:

Commissioners Taking on a Name

Marketing or Just a Bad Choice?

Cuppy’s (the name) throughout the blogosphere is the talk of many aficionados of coffee. Pundits abound the name Cuppy’s has been referred to as childish and kid like to a great marketing strategy to get everyone talking. Even the logo has come under considerable conversation by the bloggers. So the question begs to be asked: What’s in a Name?

Millions of business around the globe take into account the public’s view and/or reception of a supposed name for that company. How will the name reflect the services or product of any given company? Choosing a name can ultimately lead to the success and/or demise of a company along with a few other factors. But when that name is objectionable can the courts and city fathers decide the fate of a company's name?

The question comes to mind from this article about a commissioner wanting to take on a coffee company for the use of its name.

You can read the story in its entirety by clicking on this link.

Cuppy's Coffee on Keeping Your Baristas

Another coffee house is opening down the block and you’re concerned about the impact that will have on your sales. This is not the time to worry. In fact you should welcome the competition. Americans love having a choice, but also love quality products, quality service and a quality experience. You offer all the above so the competition will be of no long lasting consequence. However you may want to shore up your quality service for good measure. If you recognize that you’ve invested many hours, not to mention money, in training your baristas that offer quality service, you should make every effort to keep your baristas grounded and loyal to you.
A well trained barista is very hard to come by, so your employees look more and more promising to your competition and they may try to recruit them. To avoid the migration of your baristas to the competition, a few simple techniques and people skills may be able to keep your investment rock solid loyal to you.
Take an active approach in connecting with your employees. Here are a couple of key points to be aware of:
· Your team members are people first, employees second
· Start each day off by connecting in a non-work way. Keep it casual. How are you doing? A lot of employees appreciate your interest. How is the team doing? Ask them for their input about the store. You will also gain valuable knowledge about other employees and operations that you may not have been aware of.
· How can I help? Offer to help. When you’re not afraid to get down and dirty, neither will your employees.
· Let them know you want them there and value them as a person. Acknowledgement of this magnitude will build loyalty and dedicated employees

Employees don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses. The secret to keeping good employees is simple, “Treat your baristas as people first and employees second” Jeni Habas, Director of Human Resources at Cuppy’s states.
In the end, keeping the good ones comes down to connecting with your employees on a regular basis. The great news is that this doesn’t cost a dime to keep your baristas continuing to give you and your customers that great quality service.

Morg Morgan and Medina Enterprises Poised to Go to the Next Level

Medina Management and CEO Robert Morgan are making a bold move into the franchising community. Working with other franchises like Planet Wings, San Gelato Cafe, IDME and others, Robert 'Morg' Morgan plans to take these companies to the next level. The success of the Cuppy's Coffee business format has laid the ground work for these companies to succeed in their push for national exposure.

Other companies like YUM Foods have successfully incorporated several companies under their umbrella. Medina Management is poised to do the same for the companies listed above and many more.

I look for Medina Management to break onto the investor's radar sometime in 2008.

Cuppy's Coffee on the Move

Starbucks may be closing stores and cutting back on new store openings, but Cuppy's Coffee looks to me to be making a move. If you've been keeping up, Cuppy's Coffee stores are opening at a fast pace around the country. So far I've noticed these locations:

• Mechanicsburg PA
• Oceanside CA
• Temple TX
• Edinburg TX
• Longmont CO
• Kennesaw GA
• Tucson AZ

And that is all within the last 2 months. Do the math, that's 3.5 stores a month. At this pace look for Cuppy's Coffee to come onto the radar of many an entrepreneur and investor looking to secure their futures.