WANT TO ASK A QUESTION FROM THE PUBLIC? ***👉GO TO REDDIT👈***
The map above shows currently open & CLOSED stores as of jan
IF YOU DON'T KNOW, NOW YOU KNOW!
The closure of 74 Instant Imprints stores is dramatic when you look at the list below.
There are 46 locations active including 3 under corporate management:
Louisville, CO; San Marcos, CA; Mira Mesa, CA
******
Opportunity Awaits for $95,000 CAD
c
1231 W BROADWAY Vancouver, British Columbia V6H1G7
This store opened in 2012 and is reaching the end of its 10 year term.
This is considerably less than the full price of a new store.
If interested reach out to the agent directly - Not the store.
******
The FTC is looking at The Pros and Cons of the Current FDD Format
Listen to this panel of professionals discuss the subject
Dale Cantone discusses how readers review disclosure documents at 23 mins in.
"I mean, we've had people say that they've really relied on the territory disclosures
or the trademark disclosures or the required purchases or complain about the fact
that they didn't read the disclosure document, but it was clear about the amount of
rebates and kickbacks, they call them, that the franchisor is getting. So I don't know
that it would be possible to distill all the information that's in that franchise
disclosure document into a summary document."
An important video for all prospective franchisees.
Keith Miller's Statement on franchising to Senate Banking Committee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LopHn3jmjng
******
How did the brilliantly named Fresh Air Campaign (during a pandemic no less) produced by Instant Imprints work for franchisees recently?
Details included a bag of air sent to each store which when received was deflated
Where did this marketing money go?
Did this money disappear faster than a stiff breeze? or
Did their marketing investment suffer from deflation?
From the marketing follies below one can assume this was an unusual initiative.
******
A Google search has revealed the minds at Instant Imprints have come up with a new Mission Statement. Looks like many heads were involved as the list of core values has 5 bullet points. Readers are urged to read the Offering Memorandum and compare how these values align with statements made
Mission: Making Branding Easier
Vision: Connecting Communities, People, and Businesses Together
Core Values: 1. Honesty 2. Openness 3. Authenticity 4. Listening and Sharing 5. Celebrating Wins.
******
Great minds wish to know if the new objectives laid out at the recent strategy session will make a significant difference.
Noticeable changes are:
Ralph Askar is taking the lead of sales of franchises in Southern Florida, Georgia, Carolinas and Ontario and it seems has taken over responsibility or assisting Christian Collucci after his 10+ years in the role of franchise development.
We welcome comments from Christian on how he feels about this change in his role.
Just like Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it would appear Ralph and his team had greater ambitions than were possible. Retreating to a smaller geographical area may be a wise move to focus efforts. What it says for British Columbia, California (home base), Idaho, the great state of Texas and other provinces of Canada is still in question. Noel Eustace (leader in waiting) must be wondering about his investment in the Atlantic Provinces with his 2 stores and which is not included in the growth plan or attention from Ralph. Alberta under the experienced leadership of Danny Lyon and Ralph Askar was supposed to have 30+ stores and is now sitting at zero with the closures of 2 stores. Readers will be paying attention to the Louisville, CO store to see how sales will improve under Danny's leadership.
Adjustments have been made to future growth from the 5-5-5 plan. After the past lack of sales, future targets have been severely curtailed:- The new projection is 100 stores in 3 years having an average SSTR of $400,000 down from 500 stores in 5 years having an average SSTR of $500,000.
Still seems a long way off for the current management from taking over this business in 2007.
Interestingly the Franchisee Support Plan requires volunteers (franchisees/customers) to assist the management team. Most of you will recognize this from before as it has been the way it is from the beginning.
Editors Note: Charging a franchise fee and expecting franchisees to share knowledge with the franchisor confirms the lack of value coming from the management. Noticeably the statement from Ralph has "details to follow" which is common in his announcements.
The 5-5-5 plan results are shown in the map above
MARKETING FOLLIES
Jan, 28th 2022 Instagram Post
Jan, 28th 2022 Instagram Post
Jan, 28th 2022 Instagram Post
The Logo shown on the overhead sign is not the current brand logo. The background photo looks like Abbotsford, BC used many times and closed long ago. Should professional and original photographs be used? The Logo shown in center "Instant Imprints Franchising" is missing outline.
#marketingfollies
Jan, 15th 2022 Instagram Post
Jan, 28th 2022 Instagram Post
Jan, 28th 2022 Instagram Post
Trouble keeping your #RemoteStars engaged?
Let one of our over 63 employee engagement specialists across North America help your team stay connected! [Who is the audience?]
[Fact Check: At time of writing the "Offering Memorandum" in 2019, there were 60 Instant Imprints locations. In January 2022, there are 46 Instant Imprints locations (E&OE). Simple math of counting the mapped locations. The IBM supercomputer was not used for calculation.]
#marketingfollies
Jan, 5th 2022 FaceBook Post
Jan, 28th 2022 Instagram Post
Jan, 29th 2022 Instagram Post
It's another New Year! Why not stand out from your competitors and #refresh your brand?
We have Brand Experts in over 60 locations across North America to help get your message out there from banners, custom t-shirts or other promotional products.
Find a local Instant Imprints location near you:
[Fact Check: At time of writing the "Offering Memorandum" in 2019, there were 60 Instant Imprints locations. In January 2022, there are 44 Instant Imprints locations (E&OE).
Who knows how many locations...
60, 63 or 46 locations?]
#marketingfollies
Jan, 29th 2022 Instagram Post
Jan, 29th 2022 Instagram Post
Jan, 29th 2022 Instagram Post
Your business and brand are better than this.
Instant Imprints is your brand partner in creating professional signs, banners, and vehicle graphics that will reach more eyes than ever before, meaning more customers and more sales.
Talk to your local Image Expert today!
[The team at franchiseissues.com whole-heartedly agree, You Can Do Better. If this is the best, Instant Imprints offers to their franchisees it leaves questions to be discovered]
#marketingfollies
Instant Imprints website
Jan, 29th 2022 Instagram Post
June 1st 2021 Instagram Post
Don & Chandra who closed their business and left in Spring 2021 are still the face of "The Franchisee Lifestyle" on Instant Imprints website
The caption under the image says "Instant Imprints affords a wonderful lifestyle for its franchisees. See what becoming an owner of an Instant Imprints franchise can do for you!
[The team at franchiseissues.com have added this to #marketingfollies because it just does make sense. This couple gave their heart and soul to the business and unfortunately it did not work out. Somehow they are still being used for promotion purposes?]
#marketingfollies
June 1st 2021 Instagram Post
Jan, 29th 2022 Instagram Post
June 1st 2021 Instagram Post
Looking for an Exit?
Instant Imprints is expanding throughout North America and select international markets. We are seeking franchisees who are inspired to start their own business and join our team.
To learn more about an Instant Imprints franchise opportunity, visit: [website]
[Looking at the list of closures in this network, this ad hits the mark with instant Imprints' franchisees.
Thumbs up for offering a way out!
Are other franchisees looking for an exit.]
#marketingfollies
Want your own website? You can go your own way...
Website Wonders
You must follow the brand standards and NO non-approved websites. Should I get my own website?
June 2019: "Note that we have identified many non-approved websites at multiple centres in this region and in other centres in the system. They too will be required to come down" — Ralph Askar, CEO
... and cue song —
Looks like Instant Imprints website is inaccurate
IS INSTANT IMPRINTS AN IFA or a CFA MEMBER?
NO...
Despite showing IFA & CFA logos that they are an active member of the International Franchise Association & Canadian Franchise Association, no result is found when searched on the CFA website as shown in image. Link to CFA below.
UPDATE: CFA Logo removed from II website 24-2-2022, IFA logo removed after that date.
5230 SOUTH SERVICE Road Unit# B
space for lease
JUNE 1st 2022 UPDATE: New address at Unit 3-4, 467 Speers Road
After offering their old location for lease, the new Head Office is now a mailbox. Those in the know will see some irony that the CEO was the master license holder for the UPS Store and now has his Canadian operations managed from a mailbox.
50 years since the Pentagon Papers
Daniel Ellsberg
“My one regret, a growing regret really, is that I didn’t release those documents much earlier when I think they would have been much more effective.
“Don’t do what I did, don’t wait years till the bombs are falling and people have been dying.”
Well now, this is INDEED an Employee Review!
INDEED REVIEW BY ???
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1763972/000166516019000549/offeringmemoformc.pdf
Page 10 shows the "The Team" and you can decide for yourself whom the author is.
More Employee reviews can be found at https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Instant-Imprints
FEEDBACK RECEIVED
DTG WOES... From Past Franchisee — December 17th. 2.09 pm
Name
Lori Francin
Email
lefrancin@gmail.com
Give your comments here. Please include as much detail as possible.
The DTG machine was a continual source of frustration for me. I had my business from October 2018 through December 2019. I bought an existing store. The DTG machine was constantly breaking down. When I attempted to get someone from Brother corporation to come out, I was told that they no longer service that model. I would have to hire an independent who was certified to work on that machine. The two closest states were Texas and California. I would have to fly that person in and put him up for the night. I could not afford to pay travel expenses and service fee. In any event, finally after repeated phone calls to Ralph (Askar), a Brother technician who happened to be in a nearby town doing work for another account, came by my store. He spent a day and 1/2 working on the machine. We did a test on about 40 shirts and finally it was working. A couple of days later, the machine broke down again. Christian Collucci tried to blame the fact that I had not printed 6-8 shirts daily and that the machine was not properly maintained. The fact is this: The machine originated (and I assume it was new) in Indiana in 2013 and was used for about 14 months or so. That Instant Imprints went out of business. The machine was taken back by the leasing company and sat in a warehouse for well over a year. It then got shipped to Centennial, CO when Gregg Chiasson opened his store. He had the store for 2 and 1-2 years and then I purchased his store. When I spoke with my production manager about the training he got on the DTG, he said that when Bob Baker came to the new Instant Imprints store in Centennial in early 2016, the DTG was broken down and so he did not get training at that time. Eventually he did get the training and it was rather quick and elementary. This showed to me that there were continuous problems with this DTG machine.
Device
desktop
Language
en-CA
Submitted from
Homepage
INDEED REVIEW BY ???... From Past Franchisee — December 29th. 5:26 pm
Name
Lori Francin
Email
lefrancin@gmail.com
Give your comments here. Please include as much detail as possible.
In response to the post by the Instant Imprints Executive VP on Indeed, here is my take. Indeed and Glassdoor are platforms where employees can give their feedback with regard to employers they have worked for. This feedback can be positive as well as conveying pitfalls that others may want to avoid. It is much like Yelp but is for places of employment. In light of this, it seems quite strange, and even bizarre, that an Executive VP would write a review on this site.
Device
desktop
Language
en-CA
Submitted from
Homepage
Welcome to instant imprints canada New HEAD OFFICE
June 1, 2022 means new digs. The announcement from CEO, Ralph Askar to the network reveals the Canadian Head Office at 5230 South Service Road is closed with staff working from home. The image shows the office now has a mailbox at the address shown.
With the closure of of the Canadian Head Office, we have to ask, do the franchisees in their expensive leases get to do the same?
From Master Licence holder of the UPS Store to a mailbox at a store.
We assume this is not the trajectory, imagined for the leaders in visual communication.
Personnel can be reached on their cell phones.