What is the dependency between All County's approval of a supplier and the franchisee's ability to use that supplier?
All_County Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
d suppliers for any products or services.
Approved Suppliers. We may require that you purchase all specified services and products from us, our affiliate, or our designated approved supplier, as we may specify periodically to you during the term of the Franchise Agreement. Approved suppliers and specifications are determined based on the current needs for operating the Franchise Business. We evaluate approved suppliers based on price, service, quality, and other commercially reasonable benchmarks. The identity of approved suppliers and these specifications are updated periodically in writing by modifying the appropriate sections of the Operations Manual. We will send you modified sections by updating our web site, through the United States mail, or by any other commercially reasonable means.
Proposed Suppliers. We have procedures in our Operations Manual for approving vendors and suppliers you propose. It takes up to 90 days to evaluate new vendors or suppliers. We may approve or disapprove any supplier, and we may approve a supplier conditionally, provided however, that approval will not be unreasonably withheld. If you propose to use any brand and/or supplier that is not then approved by us, then you must first notify us in writing. You must submit sufficient information, specifications and samples concerning the brand and/or supplier so that we can decide whether the brand complies with our specifications and standards and/or such supplier meets our approved supplier criteria. In evaluating any supplier you propose, we will, subject to reasonable restrictions and conditions to protect our trade secrets and confidential information, disclose to the proposed supplier applicable standards, specifications, processes, and procedures for the item in sufficient detail to enable the proposed supplier to demonstrate fully its capacity and capabilities to supply the items. Within 90 days after we receive all requested information, we will communicate to you in writing our decision to approve or disapprove your proposed supplier.
We may prescribe procedures for the submission of requests for approval and impose obligations on approved suppliers, which will be incorporated in a written license agreement with the supplier. We may obtain from you and/or the approved supplier's reimbursement of our reasonable costs and expenses incurred in the approval process and on-going monitoring of the supplier's compliance with our requirements. We do not act as an agent, representative or in any other intermediary or fiduciary capacity for you in our relationship with an alternative supplier you propose and we approve. We may impose limits on the number of approved suppliers. We have the right to monitor the quality of goods or services provided by approved suppliers in a manner we deem appropriate and may terminate any supplier who does not meet our quality standards and specifications, as may be periodically in effect.
Source: Item 8 — Restrictions on Sources of Products and Services (FDD pages 16–19)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to All County's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are generally required to purchase specified services and products from All County, its affiliates, or its designated approved suppliers. These approved suppliers and the specifications for their products are determined based on the current needs for operating the All County franchise business, with evaluations considering factors like price, service, and quality. The identity of these approved suppliers and their specifications are periodically updated in writing through modifications to the Operations Manual, which are communicated to franchisees via website updates, mail, or other reasonable means.
If a franchisee wishes to use a supplier not already approved by All County, they must first notify All County in writing and submit sufficient information, specifications, and samples for evaluation. All County has up to 90 days to evaluate the proposed supplier and will disclose applicable standards, specifications, processes, and procedures to the proposed supplier, subject to reasonable restrictions to protect trade secrets and confidential information. All County will then communicate its decision to approve or disapprove the supplier in writing within that 90-day period.
All County retains the right to monitor the quality of goods or services provided by approved suppliers and may terminate any supplier who does not meet their quality standards. Furthermore, All County can disapprove a previously approved supplier, and franchisees are prohibited from reordering from any supplier that All County has disapproved after receiving notice of the disapproval. Franchisees may have their franchise terminated if they purchase services and goods that do not meet All County's specifications or are not from approved suppliers. The estimated proportion of required purchases and leases is 10% to 12% when establishing the business and less than 30% when operating the business.