Does Big Blue Swim School search for or select the site for the franchisee?
Big_Blue_Swim_School Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
se. | |
| | You must locate, evaluate, and select each School’s site. You must give us | |---|---| | all information and materials we request to assess each proposed School site. We will not | | | search for or select the site for you. However, using local commercial real estate brokers, | | | we may propose potential School sites for your consideration in your Site Selection Area | | | (under the Franchise Agreement) or Territory (under the Development Rights Agreement). | | | Proposal of a School’s site will be based on our then-current criteria for BIG BLUE Swim | | | School sites, including population density and other demographic characteristics, visibility, | | | traffic flow, competition, accessibility, ingress and egress, size, and other physical and | | | commercial characteristics. | |
| | sites that you identify within | |---|---| | the Territory and may, but have no obligation to, visit the Territory once (for no additional | | | fee) to review potential sites for each | | | developed under the DRA. We have the right to require you to reimburse our out-of-pocket | | | expenses for each site visit after the first per-Swim School visit. We have the right to | | | condition our acceptance of a proposed site, or a proposed site visit, on your first sending | | | us complete site reports and other materials (including photographs and digital recordings) | | | we request. We agree to use reasonable efforts to review and accept (or not accept) sites | | | you propose within 30 days after we receive all requested information and materials. You | | | may not proceed with a site that we have not accepted. | |
| | We will not unreasonably withhold our acceptance of a site if, in our experience | |---|---| | and based on the factors outlined above, the proposed site is not inconsistent with sites that | | | we regard as favorable or that otherwise have been successful sites in the past for BIG | | | BLUE Swim Schools. However, we have the absolute right to reject any site not meeting | | | our criteria or to require you to acknowledge in writing that a site you prefer is accepted | | | but not recommended due to its incompatibility with certain factors that bear on a site’s | | | suitability as a location for a BIG BLUE Swim School. You must evaluate and ultimately | | | approve the selection of the School’s site. (Franchise Agreement—Section 4.B; | |
| We have the right to terminate the Franchise Agreement (and, in limited | |
|---|---|
| circumstances, the Development Rights Agreement) if you reject a School site the location | |
| and physical and other characteristics of which, and the proposed commercial-lease terms | |
| for which (as encompassed in a lease letter of intent that we or your third-party vendor | |
| negotiated or reviewed), were accepted by our real-estate committee (a “Qualified Site”). | |
| (Franchise Agreement—Section 4.B; Development Rights Agreement—Section 5) There | |
| is no refund of any initial franchise fee or development fee upon such termination. |
Item 12 TERRITORY
Franchise Agreement
You will operate the School at a specific location that we consider to be acceptable. (We do not "approve" sites; we "accept" them under the circumstances described in Item 11.) If the School's address is unknown when the Franchise Agreement is signed, an acceptable site for the School must be found and secured within 210 days after execution. We will identify in the Franchise Agreement an exclusive Site Selection Area in which the site must be found.
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS, AND TRAINING (FDD pages 37–51)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Big Blue Swim School's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the franchisee is responsible for locating, evaluating, and selecting the site for their swim school. Big Blue Swim School will not search for or select the site for the franchisee. However, Big Blue Swim School may propose potential sites for the franchisee's consideration using local commercial real estate brokers within the Site Selection Area or Territory. These proposals are based on Big Blue Swim School's criteria, including population density, demographics, visibility, traffic flow, competition, accessibility, size, and other commercial characteristics.
Big Blue Swim School will review potential sites identified by the franchisee and may visit the Territory once (at no additional fee) to review potential sites for each swim school to be constructed under the Development Rights Agreement (DRA). The franchisee may be required to reimburse Big Blue Swim School for out-of-pocket expenses for each site visit after the first visit per swim school. Big Blue Swim School may require complete site reports and other materials before accepting a proposed site or site visit. Big Blue Swim School agrees to review and accept (or not accept) sites proposed by the franchisee within 30 days after receiving all requested information and materials. The franchisee cannot proceed with a site that Big Blue Swim School has not accepted.
Big Blue Swim School will not unreasonably withhold acceptance of a site if it aligns with favorable or successful sites based on their experience and outlined factors. However, Big Blue Swim School has the right to reject any site that does not meet their criteria or require the franchisee to acknowledge in writing that a preferred site is accepted but not recommended due to incompatibility with certain factors. The franchisee must evaluate and ultimately approve the selection of the school's site. Under the DRA, Big Blue Swim School must first accept each new site proposed for each new Big Blue Swim School. Big Blue Swim School's standards for sites will apply.
Big Blue Swim School has the right to terminate the Franchise Agreement (and, in limited circumstances, the Development Rights Agreement) if the franchisee rejects a Qualified Site accepted by Big Blue Swim School's real-estate committee. There is no refund of any initial franchise fee or development fee upon such termination. If an acceptable school site is not found and secured within 210 days after the Franchise Agreement's effective date (subject to any permitted extension), Big Blue Swim School has the right to terminate the Franchise Agreement, and the initial franchise fee is not refundable.