What is the condition for a City Publications franchisee to solicit advertisers outside of their Exclusive Territory?
City_Publications Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
You are not permitted to direct mail advertise outside of your Exclusive Territory. You may solicit for advertisers outside of your Exclusive Territory so long as the card pack advertisements they buy are direct mailed to recipients within your Exclusive Territory. All advertising solicitations to businesses having operations or sites in multiple franchise territories are reserved to us for coordination. We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that a fair commission is paid to you for these coordinated advertising. That is the only restriction on your ability to solicit advertising. You maintain rights to your area even though the population increases. You may not use other channels of distribution, such as the internet, catalog sales, telemarketing or other direct marketing, to make sales outside your Territory, without our permission.
Source: Item 12 — TERRITORY (FDD page 24)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to City Publications' 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a franchisee may solicit advertisers outside their exclusive territory only if the advertisements they purchase are direct-mailed to recipients within the franchisee's exclusive territory. This means a franchisee can seek advertisers from outside their designated area, but the resulting advertising material (Card Packs) must be distributed within their own territory.
However, City Publications reserves the right to coordinate all advertising solicitations to businesses that have operations or sites in multiple franchise territories. The FDD states that City Publications will make reasonable efforts to ensure a fair commission is paid to the franchisee for these coordinated advertising efforts. This implies that while franchisees can solicit outside their territory under specific conditions, City Publications retains control over larger, multi-territory advertising campaigns.
This policy aims to balance the franchisee's ability to generate revenue with the need for coordinated advertising efforts across the City Publications franchise system. A prospective franchisee should clarify with City Publications how commissions are determined and paid out for coordinated advertising to ensure transparency and fairness.