What level of supervision does Big Apple Bagels require of the franchisee for the store?
Big_Apple_Bagels Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
BAB requires you to supervise, but not personally manage, the Store. The Store must be directly supervised "on-premises" by a manager, who has completed BAB's training program. The on-premises manager may not have an interest or business relationship with any of BAB's business competitors. The manager is not required to have any amount of equity interest in the franchised business.
The manager must sign a separate written agreement with you incorporating nondisclosure and noncompetition clauses in a form satisfactory to us, including naming BAB as an intended third party beneficiary. An example of an agreement we currently consider satisfactory, including provisions to confirm our ownership of Ideas (as defined in Section 6.c. of the Franchise Agreement) is the Confidentiality and Non-Competition Agreement attached to the Franchise Disclosure Document as Exhibit E. The requirement for the Nondisclosure and Noncompetition Agreement between you and your employees, including the provision that makes BAB an intended third party beneficiary, shall not create an employee or joint employee relationship between BAB and your employees, nor does it constitute control by BAB over your employees' conditions of employment.
Source: Item 15 — OBLIGATION OF FRANCHISEE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ACTUAL OPERATION OF THE FRANCHISE BUSINESS (FDD page 66)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Big Apple Bagels' 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are required to supervise their store, but not necessarily manage it personally. The store must have direct, on-site supervision by a manager who has completed Big Apple Bagels' training program. This manager cannot have any business interests or relationships with any of Big Apple Bagels' competitors.
The on-premises manager is not required to have any equity interest in the franchised business. Big Apple Bagels also requires that the manager sign a separate written agreement that includes nondisclosure and noncompetition clauses. This agreement must be in a form satisfactory to Big Apple Bagels, and Big Apple Bagels must be named as a third-party beneficiary in the agreement.
This requirement for a Nondisclosure and Noncompetition Agreement between the franchisee and their employees does not create an employee or joint-employee relationship between Big Apple Bagels and the franchisee's employees, nor does it constitute control by Big Apple Bagels over the employees' conditions of employment.