Rumour has it that Cape Town is still reeling from the news that Melissa’s is “hopelessly insolvent”, and it’s always sad to see a local success story struggling.

You’ll find those details here, but some of those who opened franchises aren’t going down without a fight.

A number of franchise owners met at a roundtable last week, discussing the future of 16 shops that do not belong to the original CC (closed corporation), and Moneyweb reports that there was much optimism.

They spoke to franchise owner Surine van Niekerk, who said that there were plans to rebrand, adjust menus and pricing:

“We [the franchisees] came to the conclusion that we all bought businesses that, at the end of the day, can still be managed. We aren’t even focusing on the liquidation, as it doesn’t affect us too much.

“We bought the brand, but the business is still there for us to operate [under a new name] and to make a success of. We are all business people,” she explained, adding that the franchisees would now seek to align better with market expectations.

Asked why the franchisees were finding success, while head office was about to close its doors, Van Niekerk explained that the original concept of the brand was “highly successful”, but that possible mismanagement at the head office led to the company’s downfall. “This has nothing to do with us.”

You have to love the fighting spirit.

Surine is mindful of the fact that the water crisis in the Western Cape may have played a role in the brand’s struggles, but she’s also looking at the positives that come with operating outside of the Melissa’s umbrella:

Van Niekerk said that as part of the head office liquidation, the franchisees would also no longer be accountable for franchising costs.

“We have received a lot of support from the public and from our landlords. We aren’t angry, we can make this work, we have to. Yes, it’s difficult to let go and to have to make these changes, but everybody is positive and extremely excited.”

Nobody wants to see businesses closing, and jobs being lost, so let’s just hope that those who go it alone can stay afloat and turn a profit.

There’s quite an interesting opinion piece on the downfall of Melissa’s over on IOL. Let’s tuck into a little of that before we call it a day, shall we?

Melissa’s has always been known for providing exceptionally high-quality products made with only the best ingredients served in a pleasant homely environment.

For this, Melissa’s was able to charge a premium and their clientele happy to pay for it. The consumption of a product is however just one part of the customer experience and, in most cases, a relatively small part of the experience. Even a cursory look at Melissa’s interactions with customers on their social media channels reveals a disconnect. On the one hand exceptional quality products on the other unhappy customers.

Rated below a 3 on average by its customers, Melissa’s responses to complaints on social media were often delayed, indecisive or just not forthcoming. Taken in isolation one may be able to reason away the veracity of an unhappy customer, but when there is a consistent trend you need to sit up and take notice. Melissa’s didn’t and are paying the highest price for it…

When the business started, more than 21 years ago, it was about Melissa (van Hoogstraten) sharing her passions, love for food and the good things in life. Intuitively the market responded. It was fresh, authentic and relatable because the brand was the embodiment of a real person, made even more real by sharing her name. You had empathy. As the brand matures, menus grow, product ranges expand, and the temptation grows stronger to focus on the things you feel you can control. The focus shifts from customer experience to product, from authenticity, humility and empathy to sales, projections and growth.

The consequence? Your business grows quicker than you can cope with, you need to employ more people than you can adequately train and educate to be your authentic brand voice to the customer and you become less adaptable to meet the needs of a changing market, leaving your customers feeling increasingly disillusioned.

Some food for thought.

How is it not the end of the day yet?

[sources:moneyweb&iol]