What is the definition of 'PIU Vendors' for a Pump It Up franchise?
Pump_It_Up Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
PIU Vendors: Designated Vendors, Preferred National Vendors and Local Vendors
You are required to purchase all products, equipment, materials, supplies and services for the operation of the Pump It Up Business from us, our affiliates, or from our Designated Vendors, Preferred National Vendors or Local Vendors of your choosing (collectively, the "PIU Vendors"). We reserve the right to require you to purchase specific products, equipment, material, supplies and/or services from specific PIU Vendors. As of the date of this Disclosure Document, we and our affiliates are not approved or designated suppliers of any items.
We may develop certain proprietary or branded products, including inflatable devices, hardware, or software programs that will be prepared by or for us according to our proprietary designs (collectively, "Proprietary Products"). We also have developed standards and specifications for other products, materials and supplies which are incorporated in or used in providing services or the packaging and delivery of products authorized for sale at Pump It Up Businesses.
If specified for your Franchised Business, you must purchase the Proprietary Products or any other specified fixture, equipment, inventory, marketing materials, or supplies, only from us or a third party designated and licensed by us to prepare and sell such products ("Designated Vendors"). From time to time, we may modify the list of PIU Vendors.
We may choose, in our sole discretion, to designate any vendor as a "Preferred National Vendor" for meeting certain criteria established by us. We reserve the right to require that you use a Preferred National Vendor for the purchase of specified fixtures, equipment, inventory, marketing materials, or supplies. We may work with these Preferred National Vendors to establish prices, products, shipping costs, contracts, and other agreements as at our discretion.
Dependent on restrictions for purchasing products and services from our Designated Vendors and/or Preferred National Vendors, you may also purchase products, equipment, materials, supplies and services from a vendor in the geographic area near your Premises (a "Local Vendor"). All such purchases from any such Local Vendors should be for high quality products, equipment, materials, supplies and services, and should be up to our System Standards. We reserve the right to override your decision to use your selected Local Vendor if we determine, in our sole discretion, that the Local Vendor does not meet the high requirements of the System Standards.
If you propose to purchase any products, equipment, materials, supplies or services that you are not required to purchase from us or an affiliate of ours, all such products, equipment, supplies or services must be fully compliant with our System Standards. If such purchases will be from a vendor that we have not previously worked with, we reserve the right to require you or the vendor itself submit to us a written request for our review of that vendor and its products, equipment, materials, or services to confirm whether such are compliant with our System Standards. We further reserve the right to have our representatives be permitted to inspect the vendor's facilities and provide us with such information, specifications, and samples as we reasonably designate to be delivered to us and/or to an independent, certified evaluator designated by us for testing prior to your use of such products, equipment or materials in the Franchised Business. We further reserve the right to charge you an amount not to exceed the actual cost of the inspection (including the actual cost of any test) for our review and confirmation that such products, equipment, materials, supplies or services comply with our System Standards. We will notify you within 60 days of any such request whether we intend on invoking any of the reserved rights set forth in this paragraph. We further reserve the right, at our option, to re-inspect the facilities, products and/or services of any vendor and to prohibit you, in our discretion, to purchase from any vendor upon that vendor's failure to continue to meet any of the foregoing criteria or to the extent we determine, in our sole discretion, whether that vendor or its products or services fail to comply with our System Standards.
Source: Item 8 — RESTRICTIONS ON SOURCES OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES (FDD pages 25–29)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Pump It Up's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, PIU Vendors are defined as Designated Vendors, Preferred National Vendors, and Local Vendors. Franchisees are required to purchase all products, equipment, materials, supplies, and services from these PIU Vendors. Pump It Up retains the right to mandate the purchase of specific items from specific PIU Vendors. As of the date of the FDD, neither Pump It Up nor its affiliates are approved or designated suppliers.
Pump It Up may develop Proprietary Products, including inflatable devices, hardware, or software programs, that franchisees must purchase from Pump It Up or Designated Vendors. The franchisor may also designate vendors as Preferred National Vendors based on criteria established by Pump It Up and may require franchisees to use these vendors for specific purchases.
Local Vendors are vendors in the geographic area near the franchisee's premises. Purchases from Local Vendors should be for high-quality products that meet Pump It Up's System Standards. Pump It Up reserves the right to override a franchisee's choice of Local Vendor if the vendor does not meet these standards. If a franchisee proposes to purchase from a vendor that Pump It Up has not previously worked with, Pump It Up reserves the right to review the vendor and its products to ensure compliance with System Standards, potentially charging the franchisee for the cost of inspection and testing.