Real Estate Brokers, Leasing Reps Complain of Michigan "Franchisee Shortage"

(FranchisePick.Com)  B. Candace Beeke of the Michigan Business Review reports that brokers at at the ICSC show are complaining that the lack of franchisees in Michigan is affecting their ability to fill retail space: 

A lack of willing franchisees may be limiting retail in Michigan, some brokers say.

While the International Council of Shopping Centers RECon convention drew exhibits by hundreds of retailers, many of the stores do not have a presence in Michigan. That could be because of a dearth of willing franchisees, said Dave Denton, retail adviser with Grubb & Ellis|Paramount Commerce in Grand Rapids.

“We’re talking to franchisers that would like to be in Michigan, but there’s no franchisees,” Denton said from Grubb & Ellis’s corporate booth at RECon.

National chain Dunkin’ Donuts, coincidentally, Tuesday said it is opening western Michigan to franchise sales as part of an aggressive expansion program around the state.

Three or four years ago, Michigan saw an influx of franchisees, many of them terminated from corporations during mass downsizings. Those individuals used severance checks to start up their own franchises, Denton said, but a continued down economy in the state has dried up that well.

“… Now there’s not as much severance,” Denton noted.

That’s limiting the number of “new concepts” coming into the state, he said, including Cereality – a cereal restaurant that planned to open in Grand Rapids until the deal fell through this year, Denton said. Spicy Pickle, however, will enter the market, Denton said, as former Kalamazoo Qdoba-franchisee Terry Henderson has picked up rights to the franchise and reportedly plans to open stores in Portage and Kalamazoo.

“A lot of the companies we’re getting are franchise-driven, so unless we have a franchisee, we can’t put them anywhere,” said Jodi Milks, a retail adviser in Kalamazoo with Grubb.

Read the entire article here:  At the ICSC: Lack of franchisees limits retail growth

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