Swiss Farms buys Saxby's

[eldondre]

does this mean saxby's will become swiss farms? never been to one but they can't be worse than saxby's
Swiss Farms buys Saxbys Coffee; both will add stores

[bluecuracao]

I liked Saxby's coffee in Paoli and 30th St. Station. Not really sure what to think of this.

[eldondre]

I liked Saxby's coffee in Paoli and 30th St. Station. Not really sure what to think of this.

always found the coffeeof during quality but I admit to not drinking much. When saxbys bought bucks Co. They fired all the employees without notice nd downgraded the baked goods.

[mixiboi]

This was a weird out of nowhere merger. I wonder if it means more then just buying coffee.

But if Swiss Farms wants to be the next WAWA, this is a good move.

[eldondre]

This was a weird out of nowhere merger. I wonder if it means more then just buying coffee.

But if Swiss Farms wants to be the next WAWA, this is a good move.

apparently its run by a Guy who has worked for sunoco and wayward. Hopefully he starts selling good coffee (grasslands is keeping the roasting operations)
Philly Deals: Swiss Farms owner acquires Saxbys Coffee chain

[mixiboi]

They also still have Bucks Co. Coffee which means he only getting out of the storefront business.

Which adds another twist...did Swiss just buy it for the name(Saxby's sounds better then Swiss).

[Scoats]

I am the only one who finds it ironic the new owner is promoting the fact that since Saxbys are franchise operations they are more local and thus better able to compete against Starbucks? Not to knock franchises, but if someone wants to run a localized, independent, and unique business, they wouldn't buy a franchise. If people want to patronize to a locally run business, they wouldn't go to a franchise.

[randomuser]

I thought Swiss was owned by an out of state company? If not then this is great for PA. Swiss farms is a major company.

Nobody will ever be the next WaWa though. WaWa's biggest strength is probably the fact that it's a private company, which means that it doesn't have to worry about the stock markets or answer to public shareholders, and this is what did a lot of Philadelphia area companies in was the stock market and its ramifications. Therefore, considering how huge WaWa is (the largest private company I believe), it'd be very hard for anybody to challenge them unless they personally do something to make their sales drop. It's always great to see any PA business growing though.

[eldondre]

why would you buy saxby's the name? people use wawa like it's second nature but I'm not sure any marketing exec would have picked it.

[mixiboi]

Yeah, never mind, MVP keeping the companies seperate...I just saw MVP also owns Destination Maternity, so they have a lot of good local comapnies.

[OffenseTaken]

I am the only one who finds it ironic the new owner is promoting the fact that since Saxbys are franchise operations they are more local and thus better able to compete against Starbucks? Not to knock franchises, but if someone wants to run a localized, independent, and unique business, they wouldn't buy a franchise. If people want to patronize to a locally run business, they wouldn't go to a franchise.

Not to mention that as franchises get bigger, the fees they charge tend to get so enormous that eventually, the franchisees say "**** this ****" and the whole chain implodes (Quiznos), or the only businesses left that can open up a new location are themselves huge corporations, not much smaller than the franchisor itself (Burger King).

With some irony, Starbucks deliberately avoided expansion through franchising (aside from a few exceptions like Marriott hotels, Barnes & Noble, and Magic Johnson) for the very same reason that so many people prefer independently-run local businesses: aesthetics.

[phillyaggie]

There are way to manage the downside (and upside) of both. McDonalds is perhaps the biggest franchise operation in the world-- and it has done mighty fine as far as capital appreciation goes (stock hit all time highs a few weeks ago). OTOH, Chipotle which once was owned by McD's but has long been independent now, refuses to go the franchise route... it too has done very well for itself with ROI at individual store level some of the highest in the industry... in both instances, there are better (and far worse!) local business options too.

Can't really paint with broad brush on this.