---
title: "franx the economy can make or break franchise brands"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/0811d614-299e-447e-a4a6-dcacedbf68b7
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/franx-the-economy-can-make-or-break-franchise-brands-2720269
category: "Franchise Industry"
industry: "Franchise Industry"
topics: ["Finance & M&A"]
published: 2022-11-04T16:11:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:09:17.699Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/3bd88a807801474fb4e59ff5d86fc52399.jpg
---

# franx the economy can make or break franchise brands

**TL;DR:** Mainland CEO Nick Powills and franchise lawyer Charles N. Internicola discuss critical decisions during economic downturns and their consequences on franchise brands. Marco's Pizza invested in franchise development during the 2008 economic downturn and achieved significant growth.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2022-11-04. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/franx-the-economy-can-make-or-break-franchise-brands-2720269).*

## Story

When turbulence hits, you have two choices: You can do something about it, or you can do nothing about it. That tends to be the case with franchising.

In this episode of FranX, Mainland* CEO Nick Powills and franchise lawyer Charles N. Internicola discuss critical decisions during times of economic downturn and the consequences of those decisions.

In 2008, Marco’s Pizza went from being relatively unknown to being one of the leaders in the pizza industry. During that time, they invested significantly more resources into franchise development. The result? Marco’s Pizza has created sustainable buzz and a network of franchisees that are expanding within their system.

The lesson here is that it isn’t always wise to pump the breaks when times get tough. Scaling back during a difficult economy can result in stunted growth later on.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Franchise Industry (sector)
- franchise development (topic)
- brand growth (topic)
- Nick Powills (person)
- Marco's Pizza (company)
- Mainland (company)
- economic downturn (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/franx-the-economy-can-make-or-break-franchise-brands-2720269). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/0811d614-299e-447e-a4a6-dcacedbf68b7).