FRANCHISING
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We ’ re on the ground floor of a high-rise building that ’ s got other retail tenants , some office space , and apartments . It ’ s very densely populated , and the rental rates are extremely high compared to our standards here .
Now the labor costs are lower , which offsets that , and given the density the sales are typically higher in foreign countries to help make all of that work . But that ’ s a challenge , the real estate availability and costs , and just the different business styles , laws , customs , and even banking – getting money in and out in China , there ’ s an extra layer or two of government approvals .
FDF : What are your plans for the future as far as building new locations ? MP : The Shanghai location is again a pilot store – the idea is that it becomes easier to sell sub-franchises when you can make contact with someone and say “ come see this location .” From there , we hope that there will be some franchising activity , and my partner ’ s consultants have contacts there .
In fact , we ’ ve got a multi-unit deal in another part of the country that is about to wrap up . And with
20 October 2014