I used to live close to a Log Cabin BBQ restaurant in Glenwood, Iowa. I love barbeque and ate there several times each week until I moved away. There was no barbeque in the town I moved to and thought a barbeque restaurant would do well here. I investigated the Log Cabin franchise and decided not to buy the franchise. Here are some of the reasons why and some things I discovered during my investigation.
1. Most units were not making any money. However, customers loved their food.
2. Their restaurant in Glenwood burned and it was ruled arson. One of the owners, Roger Door was questioned several times by the police. He is still their main suspect in the arson case. He also worked for the company selling their franchise and providing the support to the franchises. He left town soon after the fire and opened another Log Cabin restaurant. Log Cabin continued to allow him to representative their company and operate another franchise knowing he was the number one suspect in the arson investigation.
3. The word on the street in Glenwood was his partner thought he was not being honest with the books and was putting pressure on him to come clean. And burning the business was a good way to get his partner off his back.
4. One of their franchisees said that he bought his franchise from Log Cabin's representative in Iowa and was promised training and support from him that he never received. He said the rep never provided the training or support he promised. He complained to corporate but they did nothing about it.
5. Another franchisee said even worst things about this local rep. They said that he sold them a franchise and made promises that he did not live up to. He even sold them used equipment that he said was new. He changed dates on a sales receipt to make it look like they were buying new equipment when in fact it was equipment he had purchased two years back. They complained to corporate and corporate did pay them their money back and replaced the used equipment with new. Once again, Log Cabin continued to allow that person to represent their company after knowing he had committed fraud that should have sent him jail.
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