Can Stretch Zone condition the approval of a supplier on requirements such as frequency of delivery or warranty policies?
Stretch_Zone Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
ply your needs promptly and reliably. We will use our best reasonable efforts to negotiate agreements with Approved Suppliers
that are in the best interest of all Franchise Businesses. In approving suppliers for the Business System, we may take into consideration factors like the price and quality of the products or services and the supplier's reliability. We may concentrate purchases with 1 or more suppliers to obtain the lowest prices and/or the best advertising support and/or services for any group of Franchised Units or Company-Owned Units. Approval of a supplier may be conditioned on requirements on the frequency of delivery, standards of service, warranty policies including prompt attention to complaints, and concentration of purchases, as stated above, and may be temporary, pending our additional evaluation of the supplier.
- (d) Approval of New Suppliers. If you propose to purchase or lease any equipment, supplies, inventory, advertising materials, construction services, or other products or services that are not proprietary to us or an Affiliate from an unapproved supplier, you must submit to us a written request for approval, or request that the supplier do so itself. We have the right to require, as a condition of our approval, that the supplier permit our representatives to inspect its facilities. If we request, the supplier will deliver samples to us or to our designated independent, certified laboratory for
Source: Item 8 — Receipts. Any sale made must be in compliance with § 683(8) of the Franchise Sale Act (N.Y. Gen. Bus. L. § 680 et seq.), which describes the time period a Franchise Disclosure Document (offering prospectus) must be provided to a prospective franchisee before a sale may be made. New York law requires a franchisor to provide the Franchise Disclosure Document at the earliest of the first personal meeting or ten (10) business days before the execution of the franchise or other agreement or the payment of any consideration that relates to the franchise relationship. (FDD pages 99–263)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Stretch Zone FDD, if a franchisee proposes to purchase or lease items from a supplier not already approved, Stretch Zone has the right to require that the supplier allow inspections of its facilities. Stretch Zone can also request the supplier to provide samples for testing, with the franchisee bearing the costs of inspection and testing, up to $1,500.
Stretch Zone can also require the supplier to provide evidence of insurance, such as product liability insurance, to protect Stretch Zone and its franchisees from claims related to the use of the supplier's items within the Stretch Zone system. Stretch Zone will provide written notice of approval or disapproval within 10 days after testing and completion of the conditions.
Stretch Zone retains the right to reinspect the facilities and products of any approved supplier and continue to sample the products at the supplier's expense. Stretch Zone also reserves the right to revoke approval if a supplier fails to continue meeting their standards. While the FDD specifies conditions like insurance, facility inspections, and product testing, it does not explicitly state that Stretch Zone can mandate requirements such as frequency of delivery or specific warranty policies as conditions for supplier approval. A prospective franchisee should clarify this with Stretch Zone.