Welcome to the Franchise Real Estate Report!

Early in April 2020, soon after the Covid pandemic began to sweep across the U.S., we introduced the Covid-19 Report newsletter.

From the first issue: *We know your email box is overflowing with coronavirus-related news, advice, webinars, resources, and stories of horrors and heroes. So what can we add to the mix? Something we believe is unique: biweekly reports from the front lines of franchising: what franchisors, franchisees, and suppliers are doing to keep their businesses and their people afloat during these sinking times, with no definite date in sight for reaching calmer shores.

• Our goal was to provide a realistic, sober, practical perspective with factual information, resources, and real-life advice from – and for! – franchisees and franchisors alike. One example was our ongoing series of reports called “Stories from the Front Lines.”

As the months dragged by and the world gained a greater understanding of the situation – “pivoting” to adjust to ever-changing regulations, mandated closings, employee safety, vaccination information, and masking – we sensed a sea change. On March 2021, we changed the name of the newsletter to the Post-Covid Recovery Report, writing: *If you’re tired of living under the Cloud of Covid, scream. Right now.

Don’t worry, no one will hear you — they’re screaming too. We’re all tired of it. But it’s still here, it’s real, and more than half a million Americans are dead because of it.

So after a year of publishing the Covid-19 Report, we’re changing the name of this newsletter, looking ahead, working to be the change we want to see: a Covid-free, back-to-business, back-to-life America. The focus going forward will be, well — going forward!* Along with the rest of the franchising world, we’ve learned a lot during the past 2 years, most importantly that we also must continually adapt to the ever-changing needs of our readers – you!

Now, in the third year of the pandemic, we’re shifting again, based on feedback from our subscribers about what they need today. We think you’ll like the changes. First, we’re phasing out the Post-Covid Recovery Report and introducing three new, revamped newsletters focusing on: 1) employer and labor issues; 2) real estate; and 3) the consumer experience.

The newsletter schedule will change somewhat, but there is one thing you can count on: We will continue moving forward to provide the most relevant and timely content to help all stakeholders in franchising understand, adapt, and grow their businesses through the best, as well as the most challenging, of times. Interested? (And we hope you are!)