Snap franchisee says head office unfit
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/07/2020 (1984 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
AFTER a story appeared in the Free Press Friday about Snap Fitness locations closing and leaving customers high and dry, the franchisee in question, Ryan Sourisseau, suggested he was more likely a victim of circumstances and poor management from an unsupportive Snap Fitness corporate organization.
Christina Clark, the spokeswoman for Snap Fitness Franchisee Association (which is in the middle of a legal dispute with the corporation), accused the corporation of throwing Sourisseau under the bus.
“Ryan is a long-term franchisee who has poured his heart and soul into the business and it was not his intention to close down this business,” Clark said.
Sourisseau said the “second’ he closed his two city locations for the pandemic, his franchise agreement was terminated. (The Free Press incorrectly reported that he owned a third franchise in Selkirk).
“I put a lot of money into my downtown location,” he said. “I wasn’t going anywhere.”
He said after he closed, he lost access to his email and social media accounts and was not able to respond to customer queries.
The pandemic has placed immense pressure on operators of fitness gyms. They have only recently been able to reopen in Manitoba and elsewhere but with limited capacity.
Clark, who is a former Snap Fitness franchisee in Minnesota, said considering the “crushing” effect the pandemic is having on franchise operators, the corporation should have been prepared to be more supportive.
“In my opinion,” she said, “This is a downward spiral of a corporation that has not protected their franchisees and time and time again have let them down.”
Last December, the franchise owners of 335 Snap Fitness locations filed a lawsuit against the corporation for material breach of contract for forcing the franchisees to buy a proprietary club management software system developed by a Snap Fitness-owned affiliate that failed to meet industry security standards. In 2018, that software was hacked and members were left without access to their facilities and accounts for almost two weeks.
Sourisseau is part of that legal action.