Good, Bad, and Other News! – November 2021

Welcome back to our monthly franchise news roundup. Here comes winter and the holiday season. But with many people spending more time indoors in the coming months, fears of a new wave of Covid may be right around the corner, “just when you thought it was safe.”

Yet, with booster shots and increased awareness, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – and the anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers. But as we always say, and history has proven: franchising carries on with growth and expansion, despite all. Here’s your chance to follow the leaders, every third Tuesday of the month!

And if you’re not doing it already, send us your good (and other) news here! POST-COVID – REOPENING & RECOVERY Study Finds NYC’s Vaccine Mandate Has Been a Disaster for Restaurants Proof of Vaccination Mandates Begins for Restaurants & Bars in Los Angeles 5 Key Retail Trends for 2022 (Forrester) National Retail Federation Predicts Highest Holiday Sales on Record Is Co-Branding Making a Comeback in Restaurant Franchising? Drive-Thru Continues To Pace QSR Recovery Sweetgreen’s Newest NYC Location Will Have No Indoor Dining Legendary Restaurant Brands Partners with Franklin Junction To Accelerate Asia-Pacific Growth HIRING & EMPLOYMENT MFHA Seeks Participants for Online Labor Shortage Survey Nearly 2 in 3 Women Who Left the Workforce During Covid Plan To Return, But Differently Starbucks Boosts Rewards for Patrons, Workers in Tight Labor Market Raising Cane’s Raise Hourly Wages to an Average of $14 DOL Reinstates Limits on Use of Tip Credit, Starting Dec.

28 FINANCE/M&A RBI To Acquire Firehouse Subs for $1 Billion Cash Panera Brands To Go Public & Merge with Danny Meyer SPAC 250+ Unit Taco Bell Franchisee Pacific Bells Acquired by Orangewood Partners A Look Inside Fat Brands’ $130 Million Fazoli’s Acquisition INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION Church’s Texas Chicken To Open 40 More Restaurants in Canada in 2022 Nathan’s Famous Expands to Saudi Arabia Subway Inks Massive10-Year, 2,000-Unit Deal in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh LEADERSHIP Spanx CEO Surprises Employees with 2 First-Class Plane Tickets and $10,000 LEGAL NLRB General Counsel Signals Stronger Enforcement Actions Against Employers OPERATIONS McDonald’s Is Renegotiating Its Deals with Delivery Providers Drive-Thru Continues To Pace QSR Recovery FRANCHISING CARES Papa John’s Shaq-a-Roni Pizza with a Purpose Raises More than $3 Million MARKETING/CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Kroger’s Supermarkets New Service Offers Its First-Party Data to Advertisers B2C Brands Are Investing in Social Commerce – and Succeeding (Study) Loyalty Members’ Checks in 2020 Were 6% More than Non-Members’ (Paytronix) Instagram Adds New Data Analytics To Provide More Performance Insight for Marketers TECHNOLOGY Digital Sales Grow at Yum Brands, Accounting for Nearly 40% of Q3 Sales C3 Launches Robot Delivery in Los Angeles Using Bots from Coco REAL ESTATE East Coast Wings + Grill Develops Fast Casual Model for New Market Franchise Expansion $21.