Edible Arrangements, a gift retailer that delivers fresh fruit arrangements and chocolate dipped fruit to business and residential areas, claims its franchise opportunity is The Freshest Idea in Franchising®.
“Edible Arrangements® helps people around the world celebrate the times of their lives by training and supporting talented franchisees who provide beautifully arranged, natural, healthy food that makes occasions special.”
However, a recent rise in complaints about the Edible Arrangements franchise may indicate that the sweet franchise deal may be going sour for franchisees.
Are you familiar with the Edible Arrangements franchise? If so, please share a comment below.
On ComplaintsBoard, 4/29/10 Unhappy Edible Arrangements Owner wrote:
DO NOT BUY THIS FRANCHISE!!! THEY ARE LIARS AND MANIPULATORS!
We currently have 35 stores closed down due to corporate continuing to take more money from us all. Every franchisee worries that they will lose their stores due to corporate greed. They currently take 7% plus another 4% for tv advertising which they contribute nothing to. They put out coupons and do not refund the money back to the stores that accept them. They have now released new hours mandating we have to be open on Sundays, however they allow Jewish owned stores to be closed on Saturday and Muslim owned stores to be closed Friday. Christian owned stores are told they have to be open on Sunday…NO EXCEPTIONS will be made. This is Religious Discrimination!
Corporate does not care about their franchisees at all. Due to their greed and the franchisees concern for their investments 120 stores have entered into a lawsuit against them. These guys will stop at nothing to get you to invest in their concept and then shut you down so they can buy your store on the cheap and then resale it a 3 times what they paid for it. They will take your delivery areas away from you and give them to another store which is either a corporate owned store or the owner is related to the CEO.
Again, SAVE YOUR MONEY!!! Find a franchise that cares about the owners that make it successful! As an owner you will work 60 plus hours and you will not be able to pull a check unless you get rid of all your staff. Sadly, you will tell corporate your problem and they will just blame it on your fruit expense and not on all the rebates they get for you purchasing your product through their supplier. Cost of goods has yet to go down over the past 5 years and we have added 700 stores. The reason why is due to them wanting to continue the rebate and not passing the savings down to the store owners.
SAVE YOUR MONEY, FIND ANOTHER FRANCHISE, ONLY BUY FROM US AND SAVE YOURSELF THE HEADACHE OF OWING ONE.
On Franchisee Law Blog, July 27, 2010, Edible Arrangements franchise owner Tom Downes wrote:
I am a franchisee of Edible Arrangements… At first the CEO told us that we were critical pieces of the entire franchise system. He was right at the time, we were store #59 and the franchisor gave us much latitude as we built our business to break even and small profit after 2 long years and more infusion of capital. Now, 5 years later all that has changed and the CEO/founder does not care if franchisees make money, he has followed the familiar template offered by IFA* and Michael Seidman** [sic]. Get to a critical mass of stores and start implementing dictatorial measures to extract as much money from their franchisees as possible by mandating capital expenditures for “upgrades” and increasing material costs through vendors.
By the way, the franchisor has established distribution companies that you are mandated to buy all these materials from, adding more money to his cash flows. The franchisor is taught to create as much cash flow into the parent company so that when he sells his company, he will maximize the price. Also, the franchise agreement stipulates that any dispute is dealt with by arbitration only in Connecticut.
On a domain name discussion blog on July 29th, 2010 Edible Franchisee wrote:
Tariq Farid (CEO Edible Arrangements) tries to use the American Legal system to his advantage at every turn. He is a dishonest, unethical criminal who tries to hind behind his so called religious faith. He tries to build a mosque in the middle of a residential neighborhood in CT and when the neighbors cry foul, he claims that his religious freedoms are being trampled by a ‘Sad Agenda” against islam. He continually rapes his franchisees with new fees, mandatory purchases from vendors he owns and unreasonable and unsustainable business models. As EA staores are closing all across the country, he claims the system has never been stronger. He is a snake oil saleman, its as simple as that.
Are you familiar with the Edible Arrangements franchise? If so, please share a comment below.
* International Franchise Association, a trade and lobbying group representing the political and economic interests of, primarily, franchisors.
** Michael Seid, a pro-franchisor consultant heavily involved with the IFA
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If anyone considering investing into an Edible Arrangements Franchise reads this post do yourself a favor and find another franchise system to invest in. As an owner of an EA franchise I will tell you all of the complaints and rants on this board are probably true. I dont know about the personal family matters of Tariq but as for Edible Arrangements...Do not get caught in the appearance of the product. The arrangements are beautiful and people love the novelty idea however the profit margin is not worth the investment and the work that goes into running a succesful store far exceeds the return expected. If you are considering an EA franchise keep in mind that EAI and Tariq Farid and his Staff do not care about you you're succes as a company especiallyyour profit margin. They are a business who's main goal is to sign on franchisees and make profit from those franchisees. EA International lures middle class people looking to be a part of a seemingly new and growing company, sells them on the appearance of the product and once you sign the totally one sided agreement you become their bitch if you let them and they dont like using lubrication. If you don't kiss there ass on BS matters they do everything possible to close you down. Edible Arrangements is not a system for rookie entrepenuers. If you are interested study the lawsuits against them thoroughly and spend the money upfront with a nationally known FRANCHISEE lawyer, not some local attorney or Franchisor attorney, to review your contract and thoroughly line by line explain it. It is very important to spend that initial investment with a powerhouse law firm if not you will lose more money in the long run and be stuck in a ten year deal thats not at all in your favor. Do not make the mistake of thinking that Edible Arrangements International is your partner they are not.
Chris - I must say I have to somehow believe you. This man is so paranoid about someone stealing his ideas that it is not even funny. There has to be 2 reasons for that. 1- The guy is a complete idiot (can't say that bc he is doing something smart to make all that money, "note smart not right') 2 - He did exactly the same thing to another place (steal their idea) and now he knows how possible it is.
To everyone else out there if you have $250K (which is the real money it take to open this franchise) and considering buying into his idea, spend that money somewhere else. Don't bother to deal with him. It is not worth it. Even the sales guys within the company know this but they won’t tell you.
Don't listen to any of the sales pitches and just do the math yourself it is very simple
Average arrangement price $75.00
Food Industry Cost 33% $24.75
Franchise Fees 11% $ 8.25
Credit Card Fees 3% $ 2.25
Remainder $39.75
Employee Cost $8 * 65hours $520/week for 1 employee
Rent $1500/month
Misc $375/month
Yearly $49,540.00
With these number you need to sell 49,540/38.75 = 1247 arrangements a year that is 103 arrangements a month just to simply break even.
Now remember you worked yourself 65 hours a week getting paid minimum wage. You are still on the hole for the Start Up fees of $250,000 and you keep working your but off.
No matter how you slice or dice this thing it just does not make sense. If you can’t figure this stuff out then pay an accountant up front and let him tell you how many arrangements you need to sell to make what you want to make. (of course if you cant figure this out yourself you probably should not go into business but anyways).
Forbes has just published a very suspect ranking of the 20 Best Franchises for the Buck. It ranks Edible Arrangements as #16..
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jjcolao/2012/02/08/top-20-franchises-for-the-buck/
_____________________________________________
16. Edible Arrangements Wallingford, Conn.
Founded by brothers Tariq and Kamran Farid, this chain sells sculpted-fruit gift baskets shaped like floral arrangements. Edible opened its first Chinese franchise in Beijing in 2011.
Average initial investment: $216,713
US locations as of 12/31/10: 836
Closures in last three years: 37
Hours of Training Offered: 97
_____________________________________________
We are protesting Forbes' pick of Snap-on Tools as the #1 franchise, as they are understating the investment, claiming Snap-on had zero failures when they've had 1000 franchises "reaquired" by the franchisor in 3 years, plus lost a major franchisee class action suit.
Check out: Forbes’ Praise of the Snap-On Franchise Draws Fire, Disbelief
https://unhappyfranchisee.mystagingwebsite.com/forbes-snap-on-franchise/
They also list Edible Arrangements, even though 170 franchisees are suing the franchisor. They obviously don't care what the franchisee's have to say.
Should we also question their endorsement of Edible Arrangements? Is the info/criteria they're using valid?
I was considering getting into this franchise and now I am not. If squashing the growth of the franchise is what you are after I feel you will probably succeed. However, thank you for the information.
"If squashing the growth of the franchise is what you are after I feel you will probably succeed."
Actually, helping people like you make more informed decisions with their life savings is what we're after.
"However, thank you for the information."
You're welcome. -ADMIN
I thank you as well admin.!!!!!
Potential Franchisee,
Chew on this as well!
http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/08/veterans-be-warned/
Your franchise may be next if someone has the balls.
I feel like i've won the lottery,I just recently sold my store. Iactually got to put my money back in my personal bank account. Just a little advice to anyone who has their store for sale,it doesnt matter what agreement you initially signed, they will come up with all these new rules that they say exist somewhere in these bogus agreements. It cost me approxamately $30,000 before I could close the deal with the new owners. That includes the million dollar store front . I owned the store for 5 years, the first couple of years the sales were great, until they rammed another location almost next to me. When I questioned them, they assured me it would not hurt my sales.Guess what? my sales dropped 30% for the next two years. Thats when i decided enough is enough, I refuse to let my family work for less than what walmart pays. The corporate staff at Edible Arrangements is programed with answers to every question you have if you know what I mean. Good luck to all you franchise owners, stick together and dont let them walk all over you.
Thank you all for your input and comments regarding this franchise. You have helped me in my decison. I will NOT invest with Farid!!!!
A common complaint I consistently see while exploring franchise opportunities is franchisor encroachement, or market saturation. As a franchisor's growth matures, they ALL seem to cannabilize the market areas of existing franchisees,.....oversaturating the market. This tactic increases the gross sales of the franchisor, but not so nice for the unlucky franschisee as their store profits decline.
Lesson learned for me, is NEVER EVER enter a franchise agreement unless you have a protected market area or zone prohibiting the franchisor from establishing other brand stores nearby reducing your bottom line. If they won't agree to a protected zone, move on.
Wilber,
Sounds like you learned the hard way! My question is when is a scam a SCAM?
When does the government step in on behalf of honorable Americans everywhere?
When is a crime against unsuspecting franchisees PUNISHABLE?
When a franchisor commits a CRIME against a franchisee! WHO is responsible for bringing justice so Americans can live out their constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?
When is advertising lies going to be addressed in franchising?
Does everyone think their is truth in advertising?
Does advertising a lie to promote a fraud constitute criminal behavior?
If your a member of a group that is supposed to be bringing jobs to vets through franchising but your franchise opportunity is nothing more than a SCAM and this can be proven through the recent F.D.D.'s released by the franchisor required by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) when is your membership revoked by that organization for promoting a fraud to those who NEED JOBS?
If a franchisor has NO HISTORY of sustaining franchisees in their franchises, WHY ARE THEY STILL ALLOWED TO HAVE MEMBERSHIPS to these organizations? (Vetfran)
Do Congressmen care about what franchisors (Some are Wall Street Corporations) are doing to the American Veterans and Citizens through these organizations who do not hold their franchisors accountable for their behavior?
Or do they take the MONEY given to them through FranPac (an organization created by the International Franchise Association) to buy off congressmen and garnish their loyalty to promote and protect an organization which scam's Americans out of their money?
Does a Congressmen care who might be a victim?
Whether it's a Veteran or an honest American who has 800 credit score and equity in property does our government care if American's are being scammed? Or does the money excepted through FranPac outweigh the injustice?
What do American's think?
What do Attorney's think?
An attorney is charged with promoting justice and protecting those accused of criminal acts. What if attorney's are profiting from the injustice while protecting those who commit the injustice? Is there not any act by an attorney that could be construed as unjust?