Does a Cream franchisee receive territorial protection in the Site Selection Area?
Cream Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
t any location in the world, including in the Protected Territory.
2. SITE SELECTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF SHOP.
A. SITE SELECTION.
It is your responsibility to identify and select an appropriate site for your Shop. If you have not yet located a site for the Premises as of the Effective Date, then you must obtain our approval of a site for your Premises within 120 days of the Effective Date. Unless you have our prior written approval to search for a proposed site outside of the site selection area designated on Attachment B (the "Site Selection Area"), all site reports that you submit to us must be for a site within your Site Selection Area. You acknowledge and agree that you will receive no territorial protection of any kind in the Site Selection Area, or any other geographic area, other than your Protected Territory. You may not relocate your Shop to a location other than the Premises without our prior approval. If we approve the relocation of your Shop, you must pay a relocation fee of $7,500, plus reimbursement of our out-of-pocket expenses processing the change, including legal fees.
You agree to send us all of the information we require for the proposed site. We will make all determinations about whether to approve or disapprove a site based on our then-current criteria, which may change periodically. We are not obligated to visit any site you propose for your Shop in person, though we may elect to do so. We will not charge a fee in connection with the first such site evaluation visit we elect to conduct; however, if we require, or if you request, any additional site evaluation visits (with respect to the same site or alternative sites), you must pay us $2,000 per site evaluation visit, plus reimburse the out-of-pocket costs and expenses we and our representatives incur, including travel, food, accommodations, and third-party fees.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPTS (FDD pages 61–192)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Cream's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a franchisee receives no territorial protection within the Site Selection Area. The document states that a franchisee acknowledges and agrees that they will receive no territorial protection of any kind in the Site Selection Area, or any other geographic area, other than their Protected Territory.
Cream requires franchisees to identify and select an appropriate site for their shop. Franchisees must obtain Cream's approval of a site for their premises within 120 days of the Effective Date of the agreement. Unless the franchisee obtains prior written approval to search for a proposed site outside of the Site Selection Area, all site reports submitted to Cream must be for a site within the franchisee's Site Selection Area.
Cream also specifies that until such time as they execute Attachment C to identify an approved Premises and Protected Territory for your Shop, you do not have a Protected Territory and/or any other territorial protection of any kind, including in the Site Selection Area and/or any other area surrounding your Premises. This means that until the specific location and protected territory are formally defined in writing, the franchisee operates without any protected territory, even in the Site Selection Area.