As Russia and Ukraine square off with each other, and the rest of the world square off against Russia, a third front in this troubling war is brewing: The fight between American food-and-beverage conglomerates who want to cease operations in the Russian Federation and the Russian franchisees who are saying "Da Nyet!" in reply.
McDonald's, Starbucks, Papa Johns and the owner of Burger King, among others, have said that they would either shut down operations in the country or pull support from restaurants there. Making good on those promises, however, is proving easier said than done.
Take, for example, Burger King. Restaurant Brands International says it has pulled corporate support from the roughly 800 Burger King locations in Russia. But it can't force those locations to close. That's because they aren't operated by the company — instead, they're controlled by an operator who, according to RBI, has "refused" to close the restaurants.
Some Russian McDonald's restaurants are reportedly still open, too, even after the company said it was closing its Russian locations...
Okay, real talk: If you're a major global corporation, and your franchise owners are humiliating you on the world stage like this, do you just lie back and take it? Or do you assemble an elite mercenary strike team to go into the bear-infested wasteland of Siberia to take care of business?
Well, actually, I guess you just kinda lie back and take it.
I mean it's not THAT big of a deal.
Anyway, one expert believes this whole controversy could lead to a shakeup in the franchising industry:
"I suspect that there's going to be some changes by some franchisors to at least try to have more power in this type of situation," he said. That could mean "requiring operators to close, even if it's just for a limited time."
But, he added, it'll be hard to come up with a contract like that.
Maybe. But I have a depressing suspicion that, after all this is over, Russian franchise owners will take any terms they can get.
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