Franchise and Shopping Center Organizations Join Forces to Promote Small Business Ownership and Expansion
WASHINGTON, Dec. 17, 2009—The International Franchise Association and the International Council of Shopping Centers, Inc. (ICSC) today announced a strategic partnership to leverage the common retail business interests of their members.
“We are thrilled to form this partnership with ICSC,” said IFA President & CEO Matthew Shay. “Franchise businesses need retail space and retail centers need occupants, so helping our members, particularly multi-unit franchise owners, connect with real estate experts will help more franchise businesses expand, creating more jobs around the country.”
“The formation of this partnership with the IFA is very timely,” said ICSC President & CEO Mike Kercheval. “There is great demand from our members to engage with franchisees and help them grow their businesses. Exchanging expertise and resources will create a winning formula in communities across the country.”
IFA and ICSC leaders began discussing a potential partnership 18 months ago and agreed that leveraging each organization’s educational programs would equally benefit the franchise and retail real estate industries. As part of the partnership, IFA will conduct franchise education sessions at two upcoming ICSC events including the Executive Learning Series in April 10, 2010 in New York and RECon, the Global Real Estate Convention May 23-25, 2010 in Las Vegas. ICSC will conduct a real estate strategy session for IFA members during the IFA 50th Annual Convention Feb. 5-8, 2010 in San Antonio.
The cornerstone of the partnership includes a franchise educational session at RECon, which will highlight the critical role of multi-unit and multi-brand franchising to retail centers and offer guidance from leading multi-unit operators about franchising basics and how to successfully draw franchisees to retail centers. The multi-unit program will be developed by a new IFA taskforce comprised of multi-unit franchise members. The new taskforce will be chaired by IFA past chairman Lawrence "Doc" Cohen, CFE. Cohen is founder and CEO of DOC & Associates, owner of 22 Great American Cookie Company stores, 11 PretzelMaker stores and a Coffee Beanery. He is also an associate member of ICSC.
“Providing more programming for multi-unit franchisees has been a top priority for IFA for many years,” said Cohen. “This partnership offers a great opportunity to connect multi-unit franchise owners with important leaders in real estate. Having good information about the real estate industry and developing solid relationships in this sector is a critical component of any franchisee’s success.”
Source: International Franchise Association, International Council of Shopping Centers, Inc.
