Many franchises today operate out of fixed locations. Franchisees either lease their premises themselves or the franchisor takes a head
lease and then sublets or licences the premises to the franchisee. Often franchisees do not look at their lease to consider whether they will get a return on their investment in the initial term of the lease. But franchisees need to look not only at the term of the franchise agreement, they need to look at the term of the lease.
So what does happen at the end of your lease if in fact the lease is not renewed?
In all cases the franchisee must vacate the premises at the end of the term of the lease. Typically a landlord will require the premises to be vacated and depending on the drafting of the lease you may be required to remove all fixtures and fittings within the premises and reinstate the premises to the condition it was at the beginning of the term of the lease.
Leaving becomes more complicated where franchisees have leased the fixtures and fittings within the premises. Certain fixtures and fittings may in fact form fixtures in the premises and as such are not be able to be removed by tenants. Full post.