Less than a year ago, Make & Take Gourmet founder Michele Bellso sent out a blast email announcing the closing of two franchise stores of the chain’s 16 locations. 
Bellso’s nonchalant, cheery tone and characterization of the lost investment of her franchise owners as  business-as-usual prompted the first (Make & Take Gourmet: Meal Prep Franchisor Takes Failures in Stride April 28, 2008) of 20+ posts  I’d write on the ill-conceived and ill-fated meal prep chain.
“Interest and excitement in the Make and Take Gourmet concept has never been greater!” wrote Bellso in her email last April.  “We anticipated that as this …read more

Michele Bellso and her ill-fated Make and Take Gourmet meal assembly kitchen franchise chain continue to provide compelling examples of how NOT to start and run a franchise chain.  Their newest lesson plan includes a special guest appearance by, pound for pound, the hardest working franchise enforcement agency:  the Maryland Attorney General.
According to this post on Unhappy Franchisee, the Securities Division of the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland “finds grounds  to allege that Respondents Make and Take Holding, LLC and Michele Bellso violated the registration, disclosure, and antifraud provisions of the Maryland Franchise Law, in relation to the …read more

Unhappy Franchisee reader and ex-Dream Dinners customer Jennifer recounts the reason she no longer goes to Dream Dinners, but goes to a non-franchised meal prep kitchen instead. In complaining about the shrinking portion size, she sparks the idea that could save the meal assembly concept: Perhaps meal assembly places like Dream Dinners should become weight loss concepts! After all, no one has stepped up to replace Pure Weight Loss, or to pick up the customers the ailing L.A. Weight Loss is alienating.
I used to go to Dream Dinners in 2005. Back then you did save money. The …read more