GlobeSt. com:
The locally headquartered toasted sandwich chain Quiznos said on Tuesday it has been assisting franchisees in negotiating “blend-and-extend†deals with their lessors, thereby lowering their single biggest expense in an attempt to help them weather the down economy. A publicly held, 5,000-store national chain, Quiznos corporate says it has established three lease renegotiation teams and that the assistance is being provided at no cost to franchise owners.
Quiznos corporate says it already has renegotiated more than 40 leases thus far, with an average reduction in lease payments of between 15% and 20%. The leases being reworked include leases that are expired as well as those that have high rent given current property values.
One example it provided was Thomas Mihailovich, a franchise owner in Rochester Hills, MI, who was assisted by a third-party team in late February. The result was a 20% reduction in its rent, a savings of $50,000 over the life of the lease, which Mihailovich says helped him save more than $500 a month in rental expenses.