Franchise Equity Group

December 17, 2025

Maze on NOA and McPrices

McDonald's makes big change to franchise relationship

In my humble opinion, the NOA's proactive stance on this issue is a collective decision equal to your first meeting in Tampa.

11 comments:

Richard Adams said...

Former NYC O/O Jim Lewis has some nice qoutes herein.
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Anonymous said...

Unfortunately cannot read it as it is behind a paywall, maybe summerize?

Richard Adams said...

Like everyone else, I hate paywalls and rarely post articles behind them. We could all go broke signing up for every website. However, my one exception is Restaurant Business Magazine, primarily because of Jonathan Maze's work. Their subscription is $200 a year, which, if you're interested in the restaurant business, is really cheap.
As far as me spending the time to summarize articles, where do I send the invoice for doing such work?

https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/membership/?t=/
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Anonymous said...

LOL… AI can summarize.

I’d absolutely see the value in the subscription if I were truly a restaurateur or independent operator. Unfortunately, McDonald’s already controls everything I do, and I don’t have the character limit in your blog to list it all.

At this point, I’m no longer an “entrepreneur” and have been beaten into submission if I go outside the pillars; I’m a highly trained participant in a very sophisticated system. My only goal at this point is to deliver a great internal & external customer experience to try and preserve some equity while planning my eventual exit.

Anonymous said...

WHO IS THE NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE NOA???? Would you support a movement whose leaders were Unknown?

Richard Adams said...

Leaders unknown? ... The NOA website lists nine of the directors and their profiles. Given that it's the fourth quarter, there wouldn't have been much going on anyway since everyone is preoccupied with December business and family activities. This is precisely the reason PJB dropped his price-fixing bomb in the fourth quarter. But that didn't work because the NOA Board still published a very powerful call to action within a few days.

Note: Typing in all caps is internet rudeness; it's like you're shouting. If you can't find the shift key I suggest you just write in lower case.
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Anonymous said...

The website does not list the new chairman, and it is the past chairmen (Casper, Bear) who have met with Joe and Chris.

Richard Adams said...

I didn't claim it listed the chairperson. The directors run the organization. IMHO, the LEAST IMPORTANT thing anyone from the NOA does is interact with PJB and his underlings. They'll all be gone in a few years. Most Owner/Operators have been around for decades or will be.
I know the corporate pukes like to blame all their problems on one person (been there, done that), and maybe the NOA should identify that as a challenge.
Maybe the chairperson shouldn't be all that important?
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Anonymous said...

NOA is the ONLY thing protecting owner equity.

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year! Thank you for this blog. When will the FTC look at the price fixing that is currently in place. The new Value Standards that will require following Deloitte pricing or not be able to obtain and or keep your restaurants. NFLA and NOA why are you all sitting quiet. It is the year of the horse, not the horse's ass. Wake up or go broke.

Richard Adams said...

I don't see the NOA sitting quietly. They had a call-to-action memo out to their members almost immediately. But keep in mind, PJB timed this so it would be difficult for Operators to react, considering the Operators who are involved with their stores were dealing with their highest-volume month. And others were on vacation or enjoying family time. Even if someone figured out a way to raise hell, nobody in Chicago or in the media would have been around to listen.
So the criticism is unfair, but if nothing happens over the next few weeks, it will be justified.
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