MAKE & TAKE GOURMET: Dave Bellso is Perplexed by Meal Prep

According to a story in the Times-Union, “Rarely has a new retail business idea been embraced by entrepreneurs so quickly, only to fail so spectacularly, as did the “meal assembly” concept.”

Dave Bellso, interviewed for the article, sounds perplexed:

“For some reason, the whole concept is just not doing very well,” said Dave Bellso, whose wife owns the Make & Take Gourmet chain, based in Syracuse. The two-year-old company had a store at The Crossing shopping center in Clifton Park, but closed it after a year for lack of business.

“When the industry first started, the research from the early stores showed it was a destination,” he said. “As the industry grew, that changed.”

This is a man who owns an advertising agency that claims to be the leader in meal prep marketing. His analysis is that the research showed that the early stores were destinations, but “as the industry grew,” the stores were no longer destinations?

In other words: “People are no longer coming to our stores and we don’t know why.”

Strangely, the Bellsos sound more certain when they’re selling franchises. In fact, the Take & Bake Gourmet website Dave Bellso’s agency built states “Our taste-tested recipes are so delicious they’ll keep coming back for more.”

It states: “Meal assembly kitchens are one of the hottest trends in the food industry.”

“We are excited to share this exciting, proven concept with you…”

“As seasoned marketing professionals we know how to “brand” and promote the business.”

“We have the pulse on consumer buying trends so that we can grow and change our business model to keep up with those trends faster than our competitors.”

“Our taste-tested recipes are so delicious they’ll keep coming back for more.”

“We will be able to assist you in developing effective, results-oriented marketing plans.”

“There is no limit to how many stores you can own. It all depends upon your desire for growth… It is actually advantageous to own more than one store in a market.”

It will be interesting to see what story the Bellsos will be telling tomorrow. It seems to change from day to day.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Related note: Bob Niedt of Syracuse.com wrote: ” Speaking of Towne Center, Make & Take Gourmet did a fast exit. The meal-preparation store announced its closing at the top of the week and by midweek, it was gone.”

Towne Center was one of the two Bellso-owned corporate stores.

MEAL ASSEMBLY: Meal Idea Fails to whet the appetites

Kudos to Tuckerbox on www.mealassemblywatch.com for posting this story..

Area entrepreneurs find customers’ hunger lacking for assembling own dinners

Rarely has a new retail business idea been embraced by entrepreneurs so quickly, only to fail so spectacularly, as did the “meal assembly” concept.

Never heard of it? That seems to be the problem.

In the Capital Region, no fewer than five individual stores offering the model have gone out of business. That’s out of seven — the two others, in Ballston Spa and Clifton Park — say they are still doing well.

Dinners by Design and an Independent do get honorable mentions as 2 of the remaining Meal Assembly Kitchens in the area, both who say they are “doing well”. While I hope the “doing well” part is true, the statement comes from a newly-minted second generation Independent owner that has only owned the store for a month. Dinners By Design as a franchise has been experiencing quite a shake-up lately. We certainly wish both stores continued success though.

Mr. Wechsler says:

Unfortunately, the idea just didn’t catch on — not here, and not in many other places in the country.

That would have to be the understatement of the century! It is also refreshing not to have Easy Meal Assembly/Prep “expert’s” pronouncements and outrageous quotables in this article. I am certainly glad to see a balanced article about the Meal Assembly industry.

What tickles me the most is that none of the Franchisors who are quoted here, seem to have a clue as to why the concept is a stinker.

“For some reason, the whole concept is just not doing very well,” said Dave Bellso, whose wife owns the Make & Take Gourmet chain, based in Syracuse. The two-year-old company had a store at The Crossing shopping center in Clifton Park, but closed it after a year for lack of business.

“When the industry first started, the research from the early stores showed it was a destination,” he said. “As the industry grew, that changed.”

This is the same Bellso’s that are being sued by some of their franchisees for alleged fraud and has one reported store going independent.

This is the part I like the best! Franchisors “muse” about the concept failure-while hundreds of store owners are closing their doors and losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases.

Those in the business muse as to why the idea failed in so many places. Some wonder if the corporate franchise fees were too high. Or perhaps the high cost of buying and preparing food day after day made it too expensive.

Wait a minute too expensive for whom? For the store owner or the customer? This IS a food business right, whose entire marketed reason for being is touted as being a money saver for consumers? It is also a food industry that has THE highest ACCEPTED food costs I have ever seen as a culinary professional.

Maybe customers cut back due to the economy. Or maybe the concept was just not attractive enough. “Not enough people know about it,” said Teresa Shurtz, vice president of operations at Super Suppers, based in Fort Worth, Texas. Now in 42 states, the chain began about five years ago and has about 150 stores.

Super Suppers once claimed to have 270 stores in operation, that means almost 60% of their franchised stores have closed since they started franchising. In my opinion the real story is the catastrophic failure rate of Meal Assembly franchised stores.

Independents and franchised stores alike seem to be suffering from this concept failure.

Locally, closed stores besides Make & Take include the franchised Dream Dinners in Colonie, Super Suppers in Clifton Park and Dinner by Design in Saratoga Springs. The independent Dinner Me Quickly in Colonie also closed.

Fagle-Fedele is the newly minted owner of My Other Kitchen and she along with “others” continue to be stymied as to why MAK stores are continually closing.

“I don’t understand why it’s not working,” Fagle-Fedele said. “The concept is a good one. I’ve never had an unhappy customer.”

This article written by Alan Wechsler can be found at:

http://timesunion.com/TUNews

MAKE & TAKE GOURMET: New Hartford MTG to Defranchise

Troubles continue for the shrinking Make & Take Gourmet meal assembly kitchen chain. Following news of a franchisee lawsuit and the closing of one of two corporate stores, the New Hartford Make & Take Gourmet franchise is debranding, defranchising and going independent.
According to an Aug 13, 2008 report by WKTV, co-owner Mark Brockett opened the Make & Take Gourmet meal preparation franchise in New Hartford’s “theatery” complex little more than a year ago. While “the store will not close, they likely will not be affiliated with make and take gourmet in the near future. With a new name to be announced at a later date…a change in service will follow. the store co-owner says it will become primarily a ‘pick-up’ food operation, where customers will just call ahead and take their food ‘to-go.’”
The New Hartford Make & Take Gourmet plans to change its name and service approach some time around or after labor day.

MAKE & TAKE GOURMET: 3 Franchisee Groups Reportedly Suing

Unhappy Franchisee has learned that three franchisee groups have joined together to sue franchisor Make & Take Gourmet. The groups include franchisees Shawn & Lisa Tyszka, of Syracuse, NY, owners of the now-closed Camillus, NY Make & Take Gourmet franchise; Eugene & Cheryl Grenga of Liverpool, NY, owners of the now-closed Baldwinsville, NY Make & Take Gourmet franchise; and Brian & Lisa Clark of Clifton Park, NY, owners of the now-closed Clifton Park, NY Make & Take Gourmet franchise.

According to the complaint, “The Tyszka Group, Grenga Group and Clark Group seek damages, punitive damages and rescission of certain licensing, franchise and related agreements, and for attorneys’ fees and costs, related to defendant Make & Take’s sales of franchises in violation of New York General Business Law 683 and 687, and common law fraud pursuant to the laws of the State of New York.”

Allegations common to the three groups include:

Illegal earnings claims. Franchise companies are prohibited from providing sales or profitability information, or projections of potential sales or profitability, except in a specific, designated format within franchise disclosure documents. The three franchisee groups allege that prior to entering into their agreements, Make & Take Gourmet provided them with oral and written earnings claims as to the levels of revenue and profit that they could expect their franchises to yield.

Sale of unregistered franchises. In order to sell franchises in the state of New York, franchisors must be registered with the New York State Department of Law, Office of the Attorney General. The three franchise groups allege that Make & Take Gourmet sold them unregistered franchises, in violation of New York state law.

Violation of franchise disclosure laws. Franchisors must comply with rules and regulations regarding pre-sale disclosure of certain information furnished in a designated format called a Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC) which contains required information about the franchisor company, management, rights and obligations of both parties and the specifics of the franchise agreement between the parties. The three franchisee groups allege that they were never furnished with a UFOC prior to purchasing the Make & Take Gourmet franchise.

Also named in the lawsuit is Bond, Shoeneck, & King, PLLC, of Syracuse, NY, Make & Take Gourmet’s law firm.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

MAKE & TAKE GOURMET: Franchisees Sue Meal Prep Franchisor

Franchise attorney Michael Einbinder should send Dave & Michele Bellso a thank you note, and maybe a gift certificate to Dream Dinners, for not only providing seemingly blatant admissions of selling unregistered franchises and making what appear to be blatant earnings claims, but providing them in convenient and public interviews posted online.

No surprise, the early, failed franchisees who bought into the ill-planned and hasty franchise program have filed suit against the MAKE AND TAKE HOLDING LLC; BELLSOHOLDING.

Court: Onondaga Civil Supreme
Index Number: 005064/2008
Case Name: TYSZKA, SHAWN; LISA TYSZKA; LAT HOLDING vs. MAKE AND TAKE HOLDING LLC; BELLSOHOLDING
Case Type: Commercial Div-Other Commercial Cases
Track: Expedited
Upstate RJI Number: 08-5064
RJI Filed: 08/01/2008
Jury Status: Unknown
Justice Name: HON. DEBORAH H. KARALUNAS

Attorney/Firm For Plaintiff:
EINBINDER, MICHAEL Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record Status: Active
104 WEST 40TH ST
NEW YORK, NY 10018
(212)391-9500

Attorney/Firm For Defendant:
FELLOWS, JONATHAN B. Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record Status: Active
ONE LINCOLN CENTER
SYRACUSE, NY 13202
(315)218-8100

COSTELLO COONEY & FEARON Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record Status: Active
205 S. SALINA ST.
SYRACUSE, NY 13202
(315)422-1152

DIBENEDETTO, SHELLY Attorney Type: Attorney Of Record Status: Active
205 S. SALINA ST.
SYRACUSE, NY 13221
(315)422-1152

What do you think? Leave a comment.

MAKE & TAKE GOURMET: Bellsos Closing Company Store, Blame Economy

FranchisePick.com has the story of the Michele and Dave Bellso’s announcement that they’re closing the Make & Take Gourmet company owned Fayetteville store. (Read: “Leading” Meal Assembly Franchisor Make & Take Gourmet Closing Company Store)

When the franchisees closed their stores, it was their unrealistic expectations (greed) and failure to “evolve” that was to blame. When the Bellso’s store closes, it’s due to a number of external factors beyond their control.

Dave Bellso blames the closure on a “troubling convergence of circumstances” that include, in his words:

* “We had good customers out there, just not enough of them.”
* “We just don’t have the business out there,”
* “consumers habits have changed so much in the past three or four months.”
* “Summer months… are typically slow in this business.”
* “…Expenses were way too high out there.”
* “…we had that lease, they wouldn’t change…”

WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

MEAL PREP: “You Can’t Fix Stupid”

Chow Bella posted the following in the comments section in response to a comment left by Karen (Who, incidentally, has pointed out that I am no Einstein and asserts that the MAK is BOOMING in her town). Every meal assembly franchisor has been begging me to divulge her IP address.

While Chow rambles a bit (cooking sherry again?), she makes some excellent points about the lack of experience of the MAK cloud merchants:

Karen your point is well taken about folks developing and franchising this failed concept with no food experience- with that in mind, let me quote from an article from the SpokemansReview.com; that I found on Cena’s own website-
Titled “Ingredients for Success” about Cena To Go- FOUNDERS-Nancy Cole-Hough & Tami Badinger- “The women, (Cole-Hough & Badinger) who two years ago were FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS at Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane.” Jared Paben, September, 13th, 2006.
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=149276
They weren’t even Home Ec teachers for cryin out loud!!

“Badinger and Cole Hough decided to start franchising their small business 11 MONTHS AFTER OPENING IT” – (my emphasis)
“We decided to bust a move EARLY (my emphasis) because if we didn’t, our franchisees wouldn’t be on the ground floor of this burgeoning business,” Cole Hough said. (HMMMM….sounds a little opportunistic in my opinion)

Those quotes PRETTY much sum up everything that is WRONG with what you have to say.

With no culinary experience to speak of with a grand total of 11 months of business experience under their belts-CENA founders started selling franchises 11 MONTHS after opening ONE store in Spokane, Washington, in my opinion, certainly NOT a representative sampling of Any Town USA where these Meal Prep/Assembly Kitchens, Kitchen Outsourcing, Home Meal Replacement have opened and where most have FAILED, even in the “perfect” demographic profiles.

Did Cena’s founders know it would be successful anywhere else?

Did they consider taking their show on the road to see if the concept was viable any where else before they started “selling” franchises for their little experimental concept?

Was their concept fully vetted or did they just see dollar signs?

* * * * *

A very reliable source told me that Super Supper’s just closed 10 stores last month….

One super Suppers store in a town in Ohio closed after being opened only 6 months.

The Supper Supers Ardmore store that Admin relates is frightening and again burns my biscuits to a veritable southern fried crisp…where is the professional FrannieZor guidance franchisees PAY for when they buy one of these “opportunities’? Where is the support?

* * * * *

So, how does a Meal Prep Industry apologist explain the MASS failure of the Meal Prep/Assembly kitchen franchises that DO have a Culinary expert at the helm, Entrée Vous & Super Suppers spring to mind-neither one is doing all that well either. So that argument is shot all to hell too, right?

Even Franchise Great veteran Ex-Gov. John Brown shuttered the doors of his version of the concept after 6 months and 2 or 3 stores under the name “Suzanne’s Kitchen” (as in Suzanne Sommers). He claimed the concept was too labor intensive for consumers and was going to let experienced experts revamp it to be more customer friendly and re-open. That was nearly 2 years ago, I’m guessin’ he was smart enough to see the writing on the wall and got the hell out of Dodge with minimal financial loss- unfortunately the same probably can’t be said for the Franchisees in that organization either. At this point my opinion is that unless you actually eat the food for them it’s not going to get any more customer friendly.

Karen said: “…The convenience of a home-cooked meal, ready-to-cook, sit down with the family, that isn’t full of preservatives, etc….”

The food quality issue is funny because as stated somewhere else on this board, you all get your inventory from the same manufacturers, most from the same distributors.

There is no magic Meal Prep faerie that delivers minimally processed, preservative free ingredients to Meal Prep stores. Don’t get me wrong there MIGHT be some stores that provide that type of finished product, but it comes with a premium price tag, and is therefore no longer cost effective for the consumer.
Folks will actually have a better chance getting better quality, less expensive minimal preservativized ready-made, frozen or M&T meals from Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Tesco, Trader Joes, or even Costco who has take & bake organic fare now, and yes, even from the grocery store; than from ANY Meal Prep/Assembly, Kitchen Outsourcing, Cooking Studio, Home Meal Replacement store. It’s just simple economics and scale of buying power.

Besides, most “meals” from a Meal Prep store have to be prepped at home, thawed before cooking, or at least have some minimal planning that goes into the consumption/usage of the meals.
That is generally beyond the preference/normal practice of most busy family food preparers.

Karen said: “…there might be something to salvage. Get rid of the sessions and call it good - that’s where they’re all headed. Why is it so terrible for it to morph into something slightly different?”
Sorry to be Captain Obvious here, but that is indeed called a grocery store or a restaurant, not a “meal prep/assembly store”

* * * * *

Super Suppers has already become “your make & take place”, Make and on the Take Gourmet has muffed it and puts out these outrageous PR articles, MGFK’s original FrannieZOR has taken the money and ran by selling to another player in this troubled industry for pennies on the dollar to the detriment of former MGFK store owners, Dinners By Design second CEO thinks that a centralized community freezer for stock-piled meals for customers to pick-up or kiosks at Malls for pick meals is the way to go. I think all the players in this game have weighed in and pretty much have this half-baked “morphing” idea covered. And in opinion-all stupid morphisms my. All the while happily “skipping” their franchisees into financial oblivion.
My spidey senses are tingling and I have a sneaking suspicion that nobody in the game has a clue.

* * * * *

Again Karen good luck with whatever it is you do; whether it’s damage control for some lucky frannniezor, a crack PR person, a MAK apologist, propagandist for the industry or if you are indeed a person who is looking to buy one of these things and “morph-it” into a whatever you positive thinker types are calling it now, good luck and God’s speed, you are going to need that and PLENTY of cash in reserve for the lean years.
Thanks for playin’, but where I come from there’s an old sayin’-
“You can’t fix stupid.”

MAKE & TAKE GOURMET: $30K Per Month?

Despite numerous shuttered Make & Take Gourmet meal prep kitchens and rumors of franchisee contract buy-out offers and franchisee group lawsuit against the franchisor, Watertown NY franchise owner Jennifer Vail says things are great. In an interview with the Watertown Daily Times, Vail reports that she has 20 employees, several hundred regular customers and an average monthly purchase of approximately $100 per customer.

At 300 customers, that would equate to $30,000 per month, or $360,000 per year. While a respectable amount, that’s quite a bit lower than the Cicero store sales figures the Bellsos fed the press last year:

Make and Take’s Cicero location sells, on average, 3,000 meals per day, Bellso says. In December 2006, during the busy holiday season, sales increased to 6,000 meals per day, she adds.

Make and Take’s Cicero location will generate annual revenue of $1.2 million to $1.5 million, says David Bellso, Make and Take’s franchise-sales manager.

However, Vail, with owns the meal preparation business with her husband, Alan, sounds busy but upbeat:

“It’s like a 24/7 job…. I just wanted something else that would branch off into another direction. And this seemed to be a great fit. And it has been. It’s been phenomenal. I’ve been very lucky.”

“… the great thing about owning this franchise, because they give us all our recipes every month and they give us all the prep instruction and they tell us how to do the station layouts and all of that. It’s pretty easy.”

“We have 4,200 square feet here, which makes us the largest Make and Take Gourmet. It had to be in an area that’s well lit, in a safe location, because we have a lot of women that come here by themselves and we’re open at night.”

“Alan and I also decided we wanted it to be in a high-visibility location. Some of the Make and Takes are in the back of complexes and aren’t as visible. We have a great walk-in clientele, which is very, very important. We also wanted to have one that’s large enough in case we wanted to expand.”

“It’s key to get people in the door. Once we get customers in the door, then we’re golden. It’s kind of a glitch having people not really understand exactly what it’s all about. It’s the convenience. We’re all so busy anymore that most people do not want to go home and cook.”

“IN A MONTH OF BUSINESS, HOW MUCH WOULD THE AVERAGE CUSTOMER SPEND? “Probably, on average, $100.”

“WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU? “I don’t know. Not another Make and Take right away, that’s for sure. This is time-consuming enough for me…”

WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT.

ENTREE VOUS: Broomfield, CO Franchise "Adventure" to Close

Entrée Vous, 1140 Highway 287, Broomfield, CO will close on July 31.  Our condolences go out to franchise owners Debbie and Andy Jacobs, who called their meal prep kitchen franchise "a wonderful adventure."

Source:  Daily Camera

Entrée Vous, a nationwide meal preparation franchise with several Denver-metro area locations announced this week that its Broomfield kitchen will cease operations at month’s end.

"This has been a wonderful adventure for us and we’ve enjoyed helping you put dinner on your family’s table," franchise owners Debbie and Andy Jacobs stated in an e-mail notifying customers of the pending closure.

The reasons for the closing haven’t been disclosed. Speculation includes the tough economy isn’t allowing customers the luxury of a make-and-take-style restaurant….

The Entrée Vous was concept was to make cooking convenient for those short on time, and to provide an opportunity to socialize while preparing a meal.

The trend of easy meal preparation has become popular, with more than 1,400 make-and-take outlets nationwide. The restaurants generally offer dishes, either prepared in the store or available for pick-up, that serve a four- to six-member family.

Entrée Vous’ main easy meal preparation rival within Broomfield is Supper Solutions, 1480 W. Midway Blvd.

Meal prep kitchens are closing nationwide faster than they opened, yet the media reports "The trend of easy meal preparation has become popular, with more than 1,400 make-and-take outlets nationwide…"

Don’t believe what you read in the papers…

Tip of the hat:  Joel Libava, The Franchise King

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  YOUR COMMENTS WELCOME.

DREAM DINNERS: Should Meal Assemby be a Diet Concept?

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 meals were large. When they said they fed 6 they always did, and then some. Not anymore, the serving size is the size of your palm. I eat like that when I am on a diet. Not my husband and growing kids. The owner of our local Dream Dinners said that she did not have the power to change it, I would have to write the corporate office. I did. To no prevail, I was told they were partnering with weight watchers and potions were important to the founders. That this was thier FIRST complaint!
Needless to say, we go to a similar place that is non- franchised. They serve organic ingredients, the portions are normal, and I know I am helping the community because the local store gets all her main ingredients at the farmer market. The average cost for 12 meals is $199.00 I pick half of them up the first of the month, then the other half around the 15th of each month.

I think this concept will be around, just not Dream Dinners. There food is marginal and very inflexible. They do not receive criticisms well either….

Well, I guess Dream Dinners will get a chance to show their graciousness to criticism right here and now.

What do you think? Should Dream Dinners market itself as a diet concept? Or should they add plastic cosmetic enhancement services like Make & Fake Gourmet Meal Assembly & Botox Kitchen?

Next Page »