text/picture Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Xu Zhangchao intern Wang Yi
Xianhezhuang franchisees collectively defend their rights, Chen He withdraws from Xianhezhuang shareholders, Chen He collects huge franchise fees, publishes certificates to report smuggling accounts and tax evasion... Recently , the "star restaurant" Xianhezhuang, a partnership between Chen He, Ye Yiqian , Zhu Zhen , has been on Weibo hot searches one after another. Chen He, who has withdrawn his shares, posted an article in response to the dispute, which once again attracted attention from the outside world. At present, Chen He, Ye Yiqian and Zhu Zhen have all withdrawn from Xianhe Village. After the "star halo" retreated, the village fell into a state of "collapse".
Yangcheng Evening News reporter noticed that in recent years many celebrities have invested in the catering industry, such as Xue Zhiqian's "Shang Shangqian", Zheng Kai's "Huo Fengxiang", Guan Xiaotong's "Natural Milk Tea", Hu Haiquan 's "Xi Xiguo" and " Bengong's Tea " etc. However, after relying on the gimmick of celebrity popularity to build their brands, these catering brands have "overturned" one after another, which has inevitably caused the public to question the "star catering" franchise chain model. So, why is it difficult for "star catering" to become a "star" in the catering industry? Are you cutting off the "leeks" of franchisees?
Xianhezhuang franchisees have no way to complain
Recently, a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News came to the Oriental International Commercial Plaza next to Keyun Road in Guangzhou. The original Xianhezhuang braised hot pot store in the mall has been replaced by a branch of Daxianbang. . The reporter noticed that diagonally opposite the Daxianbang store, there was a Chen He doll stool. "Xianhezhuang seemed to be still open when I came to the mall in May this year. I don't know when it was no longer available." Mr. Lin, a customer in the mall, told reporters.
Xianhezhuang franchise stores like the Keyun Road branch are not uncommon in Guangzhou in the past two years. The reporter learned from a Xianhezhuang franchisee that the number of Xianhezhuang franchise stores in Guangzhou reached 19 in 2021, but Dianping shows that currently only 6 Xianhezhuang branches are still operating normally. Ms. Wang, a franchisee in Xingtai City, Hebei Province, told reporters that she invested 430,000 yuan to sign the franchise contract in July 2020, and spent a total of 2.9 million yuan on store decoration, purchase, etc. By April this year, she could no longer survive and had to choose Closed shop.
"At that time, Zhang Peng, the assistant of the general agent in North China, promised us that from the franchise fee to all the materials for opening and operating the store, we should invest about 1.8 million yuan to be able to operate normally, and we can make back the money in one to one and a half years." Ms. Wang explain. She told reporters that three months after the Xianhezhuang store opened, as the popularity subsided, there were almost no repeat customers. At that time, the North China agent promised to invite Chen He to the platform, but later said that the time limit was up and he could not get the money to invite him.
“At that time, we were forced to buy the base material from Zhishan, which is behind Xianhezhuang. We bought 100,000 yuan of base material. As a result, we were directly seized by the market supervision and management here because there was no production date or certificate of quality on the packaging. Those signs are "three-no products." Ms. Wang said that after the local market supervision and administration department fined them more than 9,000 yuan, they asked the headquarters for an explanation, but there was no positive response from the headquarters.
Regarding Xianhezhuang's tax evasion and tax evasion issues on the Internet, Ms. Wang said that during the opening of the store, she spent more than 1 million yuan on purchasing materials from the Xianhezhuang headquarters, and all the money was transferred to a personal account named "Huang Zhong" on the bank card: "I thought this was a bit suspicious of tax avoidance, so I complained to the Chengdu Taxation Bureau. The taxation bureau reported that there was no such person as Huang Zhong in Zhishan Company, so they asked you to go to the police to file a case. We went to the local police station to report the case, but the police station did not accept it. We contacted the relevant hotline We also communicated with each other, but none of these departments gave a definite answer.”
A reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News contacted the staff at the Xianhezhuang headquarters. The other party said that the person who reported tax evasion in the online video was one of the brand franchisees and had other demands. I just came here to shoot this video. The tax evasion claimed by the other party is untrue. At the same time, Xianhezhuang has submitted relevant materials to report the video, and the video has now been removed from the shelves. Regarding public commitments such as the time to pay back the capital, the other party said that investment is risky.
Many "operations" have been accused or involved in illegal activities.
Just one sentence: "Investment is risky". Doesn't public commitments such as the time to pay back the capital need not be fulfilled? Will Chen He still bear relevant legal responsibilities after withdrawing his shares? Is Xianhezhuang, which charges high franchise fees and publicity and promotion fees but fails to fully fulfill its information disclosure obligations, legal and compliant? To this end, the reporter contacted Zhang Zhenzu, senior partner of Beijing Hairun Tianrui Law Firm, and Zhong Lanan, senior partner of Beijing Jingshi Law Firm. Regarding public promises such as "recovery time", Zhong Lan'an said that external claims of "recovery of costs" are suspected of constituting fraud and false publicity. If there is evidence to prove that Xianhezhuang Company does make a profit promise when franchisees join, thereby inducing them to join. , the franchisee can sue to the court to terminate the contract and return the franchise fee in accordance with the relevant provisions of Article 148 of the " Civil Code ".
Zhang Zhenzu mentioned that franchising is a franchise. According to Article 3 of the "Commercial Franchise Regulations", in addition to the written contract, the brand's investment manual and public commitments are also part of the contract. If Xianhezhuang had promised that "Chen He himself would build a new store on the platform and use his star effect to attract traffic," etc., then after Chen He withdrew as a shareholder, Xianhezhuang was unable to fulfill the above commitment, and it was suspected of breach of contract.
It is worth noting that Zhong Lanan also pointed out to reporters that from the information queried on the "Ministry of Commerce Business System Unified Platform- Commercial Franchise Information Management" website, Xianhezhuang was only registered in April 2022. According to Article 8 of the "Commercial Franchise Management Regulations", Xianhezhuang's recruitment of franchisees without registration is suspected of violating the law and should bear responsibility in accordance with the above provisions. The relevant brand owners responded to reporters that Xianhezhuang already had the conditions to join the franchise at that time, but did not register it immediately.
Regarding the "celebrity + catering" franchisee model, Zhong Lan'an said that franchisees should choose partners carefully and not trust the partners' advertisements. Zhang Zhenzu suggested that during the franchising process, you should pay attention to whether the other party's commercial franchise behavior is in compliance with the filing requirements, carefully review the contract details during the signing of the business contract, not just the verbal commitment of the other party, and pay attention to collecting investment conference videos and investment manuals. Commitment and other relevant supporting materials.
Do celebrity restaurants have their own "rollover halo"?
After the video of Xianhezhuang’s tax evasion report was released, a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News went to the Xianhezhuang braised hotpot restaurant in Dingfu Times Square in Guangzhou to experience it and found that although Chen He is no longer a shareholder of Xianhezhuang, there are still restaurants in the branch. Banners with photos of Chen He were hung, and photos of Chen He and other celebrities were also displayed on a photo wall. The branch has two floors. The lights were turned off on the second floor for a long time that night and there were no customers. The nearly 20 dine-in tables on the first floor were only less than 1/3 occupied.
In fact, Xianhezhuang is not the only case where people are born with a golden key but end up in a mess. The reporter noticed that celebrity catering brands with their own celebrity popularity have frequently experienced "rollover" accidents in recent years. For example, the restaurant "Nice to Meet You" invested by Han Han has been accused of operating without a license many times in many stores across the country. and food hygiene issues were closed. Netizens combed through data from more than 40 celebrity catering stores in the past 20 years and found that more than 85% of them eventually closed and their brands disappeared. Most of these catering brands lasted between 2 and 5 years, and some even closed down just one year after opening. .
Why do celebrities like the catering industry so much? Why are restaurants with the "aura" of celebrities left with only "chicken feathers"? iiMedia Consulting CEO and Chief Analyst Zhang Yi analyzed to a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News that the high rate of return in catering is a major reason why celebrities consider investing. Compared with the high-tech industry, the catering industry is also an industry with a relatively low threshold. , celebrity catering essentially uses the star itself as an invisible sign to attract franchisees and consumers.
"Precisely because they were born with a golden key in their mouths, the management team of celebrity catering often ignores the most important thing - the product.Zhang Yi emphasized that the "product + marketing" catering model needs to take into account both product quality and marketing methods. Nowadays, star restaurants are doing very well in marketing but not in product quality. This is ultimately a matter of management. Afterwards, marketing More and more efforts are being made, but the products are getting worse, which leads to the frequent occurrence of "cutting leeks".
Are celebrities doing catering to realize quick profits?
China food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng was interviewed by a reporter from Yangcheng Evening News. He said that celebrities only use catering as a track and carrier to quickly monetize their fan traffic. Catering is just a tool or means of monetization. "He himself has neither experience nor much professional knowledge in this field. , and he doesn’t have the time or energy to manage it, so the collapse of many celebrity restaurants is inevitable. Zhu Danpeng said.
Zhu Danpeng pointed out that compared with some Internet celebrity brands, one of the biggest differences between celebrity catering is that celebrity catering adopts a one-stop transaction model. After the brand party charges a high franchise fee, it will follow up with the franchisee. There won't be much overlap. You only need to pay a certain brand fee on time every year, and those Internet celebrity brands adopt a long-term strategic business model. In addition to the differences in business models, the operating capabilities and brands of the two stores are also different. The maintenance capabilities are also different.
Editor: Wu Jiahong
Source: Jinyang.com
.
