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How Times Have Changed - Good Old Boys Club? NONSENSE!

Would you mind clarifying a bit by defining "independent retailers"? Would that include or exclude those working within a franchise? How about the franchisor?
Interesting question, but I consider franchise owners to be "Independent Retailers"
I consider the Franchisor to be a "supplier" to said "Independent Retailers."

The Franchisor is supplying marketing and business expertise in my model.
 
Interesting question, but I consider franchise owners to be "Independent Retailers"
I consider the Franchisor to be a "supplier" to said "Independent Retailers."

The Franchisor is supplying marketing and business expertise in my model.

Thanks for clarifying. This is very 30,000' thinking but it's something that would need to be defined when or if changes are made.
 
The same kind of care will have to be taken with multi-store operations. Presumably, the membership committee will be weighing in, so there will be opportunities to make sure we get things right before any changes occur.
 
Cliff, we agree. I did not mean to exclude suppliers. In fact, I see them as integral to the PPFA's future growth as they provide a conduit to prospective members, and as their interests run parallel.

As for franchises, I would call that a gray area. However, one could view each franchisee is an independent business owner, and the franchisor as a supplier. They're certainly not part of the chains that have damaged the industry through predatory methods.
 
I would say defining "PPFA's Target Audience" need a lot of work.

Not recruit Diploma companies, really, I sell matted diploma frames for $45.00. I have 8.5 x 11 photo frames for $9.99. Yes.....regular glass. Am I not worthy for PPFA?

First know that franchise stores should be welcome and recruited by PPFA.

I'm not anti franchise. I would say that most Franchise frame shops are better suited for our economy than most independent frame shops.

A lot of framers want PPFA to act like a franchisor (marketing wise) but they want it for $20.00 per month.

Franchise stores are not independent retailers. The Franchisor is not just a supplier.

I know because I spent 10 years as a franchisee and signed one of their 300 page contracts.

Doug
 
I did not mean to exclude suppliers. In fact, I see them as integral to the PPFA's future growth as they provide a conduit to prospective members, and as their interests run parallel.

So what's your take on suppliers who compete directly with their framing accounts? Recently there was discussion re: Omega and Culver doing this. I am sure there are others.

How about vendors who take booth space at trade shows marketing to end users (the same accounts we go after) such as at the Healthcare Design Show and the Hospitality Design Show?
 
Rob, up to this point I haven't given any thought to either of those, but since you obviously have, and since it sounds like your own personal issue, why not tell us what you think about them?

However, if I had a supplier who was competing with me at retail, my response would be to stop buying from them, and/or become a supplier and go after their customers. But that's just me. :)
 
PPFA Target Audience: Independent Retailers that sell Picture Framing and the Vendors that supply them.
I believe this is a concise and accurate description of PPFA's past and present operating philosophy and, in my opinion, emphasis on these segments of our industry ought to continue.

Who isn't PPFA's target audience: BigBox Retailers. (not necessarily their employees) They have stolen (literally not figuratively) a large percentage of the customer base with lies and deception. We should exclude them on ethics alone.
You're right, BigBox retailers are not PPFA's target audience. However, excluding them would be a negative declaration, and totally unnecessary. PPFA excluding BigBox retailers would be something like the Demolition Derby Association excluding NASCAR. There is simply no reason to bother formalizing such an exclusion, since the BigBox retailers have no interest in PPFA and, at least in their perception, would gain nothing from membership.

On the other hand, if PPFA could grow, prosper, and advance the cause of small independent framers to the point of seriously competing with the BigBox retailers in big numbers, then they might see things differently. At that point, PPFA might be able to influence them toward correction of the faults so often perceived in their tactics. In any case, if PPFA were to attract BigBox retailers, think of the dues they would pay! The financial benefit to PPFA could be huge.


Big online retailers like Art.com and the diploma companies (a couple of which use the PPFA logo, but are not members). Again, they put out inferior products with deceptive information and bad advice.
Any enterprise misusing the PPFA logo, which is legally protected, should be suitably warned and charged for membership retroactively for as long as they have misused the logo. If the infractions continue, legal action ought to be considered. Yes that would involve some cost, perhaps more than the potential gain, but intellectual property is
the association's primary asset.

The PPFA value proposition is:Hi,I'm with PPFA and I'm here to help you grow your business...We have been obtuse about this.
Yes, you're probably right, but how far can the hand-holding go? I mean, at what point would we no longer be obtuse about the membership benefits?

Much of what we do is aimed at elevating the expertise of the retailer...When we talk about things like standards people hear “tell them what they have to do.”
Absolutely, but part of the problem is that many typical framers believe their expertise is already better than average, and their roadblocks to success involve something other than their personal expertise or framing standards. So, when the association attempts to fix what they consider to be not-a-problem, they take offense, consider PPFA irrelevant, and turn away. It's difficult to build lasting relationships under those circumstances. In truth, maybe improving framing standards/expertise is less important than other benefits less-emphasized. Marketing, for example, is discussed in this thread as an important area of needed PPFA improvement. Point taken.
 
Interesting question, but I consider franchise owners to be "Independent Retailers"
I consider the Franchisor to be a "supplier" to said "Independent Retailers."

The Franchisor is supplying marketing and business expertise in my model.

You are correct Cliff. I have been doing business with lots of franchise shops for years. The only time the franchisor is involved is for new store opening or if someome is buying out an existing Fr shop, but even then all trannsactions and payments come direct from the store owner. The shops, in my understanding have no obligation to buy from anyone and most are owned an operated by single family's or maybe a partnership. The only difference that I see between IR's and Franchise shops is that the Fr's have a support staff behind them with name recognition. That is really gereralizing and I know that they do a lot more than that. Dave Lantrip can give you a much better Idea of the extent of the franchise involvment with the indevidual shops, but my experience has been that they are no different. The way I see they are as independent as they want to be and definately run their own show in every way. And there are already a lot of them in PPFA.

It seems to me with the diversity of the membership, trying to single out and making certain groups ineligable would be like closing the door to many good or potentially good members. Maybe I'm looking at this wrong here, but don't you think it would be better to open the door wider and offer full voting membership to anyone who is working in the framing business, instead of excluding them? I've never understood the associates membership where they pay less to belong, but have no rights to vote and cannot be an officer other than the Sec. because the Sec. doesn't vote. Only the owner or designated management can vote. Seems to me that it would be a whole lot eaiser for the board to manage if everyone whas paying the same dues. And I also think it would draw more members to the work force. Just my 2 cents.
 
I've never understood the associates membership where they pay less to belong, but have no rights to vote and cannot be an officer other than the Sec. because the Sec. doesn't vote. Only the owner or designated management can vote. Seems to me that it would be a whole lot eaiser for the board to manage if everyone whas paying the same dues. And I also think it would draw more members to the work force. Just my 2 cents.

I never got that, either. Given the set up of elections as they are today, there is little incentive to be a 'real member' vs. an associate. Another issue that needs to be examined. Sigh.
 
You are correct Cliff. I have been doing business with lots of franchise shops for years. The only time the franchisor is involved is for new store opening or if someome is buying out an existing Fr shop, but even then all trannsactions and payments come direct from the store owner.

Pat, if you don't mind I'd like to clarify what I think you said, just so there's no confusion for others who might read this.

I believe what Pat meant is that the only time the franchisor is involved with a vendor is when a new store is opened or an existing store is sold to a new owner. That is correct to some extent, as we send the franchisee a new store order book or individual purchase orders for equipment, supplies, etc. However, our merchandising department is in frequent contact with our key vendors to get information on new products, negotiate pricing, and so on.



The shops, in my understanding have no obligation to buy from anyone and most are owned an operated by single family's or maybe a partnership.

That's correct. We can recommend vendors and products, we can warn against companies with bad reputations, and we can find the best product at the best price. In the end though the decision is the franchisee's to make. That's the whole "independenty owned and operated" part.


The only difference that I see between IR's and Franchise shops is that the Fr's have a support staff behind them with name recognition. That is really gereralizing and I know that they do a lot more than that. Dave Lantrip can give you a much better Idea of the extent of the franchise involvment with the indevidual shops, but my experience has been that they are no different. The way I see they are as independent as they want to be and definately run their own show in every way.

That's correct, we are in regular contact with our stores. I don't want to make this a long commercial post, so I'll just say that we are there to support and advise our store owners in all aspects of their business.



And there are already a lot of them in PPFA.

It's been a while but I once asked Nick Shaver to send me a list of all Great Frame Up and Deck The Walls that were members of the PPFA. I don't remember the exact number of members and it's probably changed anyway, but at the time a far larger percentage of our stores were members than the industry as a whole.
 
I never got that, either. Given the set up of elections as they are today, there is little incentive to be a 'real member' vs. an associate. Another issue that needs to be examined. Sigh.

I understand why it was set up that way years ago, but with the changing times and so many less shops, they may want to look at re-visiting the by-laws to open the full voting membership to include employees who would like to carry thier own membership.
 
I understand why it was set up that way years ago, but with the changing times and so many less shops, they may want to look at re-visiting the by-laws to open the full voting membership to include employees who would like to carry thier own membership.
It has nothing to do with the by-laws. It's PMA rules.
The entire structure of the rules (mostly about "voting") and dues is outdated and should be changed.
 
It has nothing to do with the by-laws. It's PMA rules.
The entire structure of the rules (mostly about "voting") and dues is outdated and should be changed.

Does PMA have that same rule within the photography industry? If they do you would think that they would have seen the error of their ways by now.
 
Does PMA have that same rule within the photography industry? If they do you would think that they would have seen the error of their ways by now.
Yes, same rules.
No, their inability to see the error is in part why (I think) there has been a COMPLETE changing of the guard.
We're just waiting for the "new" guard to get their feet under them so we/they can figure out what the right thing to do, is.
 
I keep thinking how we could increase revenues. I don't know much about memberships, there are so many different models. There is one thing we could consider in addition to memberships. I am thinking about some kind of a reward for those who keep supporting the organization year after year and at the same time this could generate more money for the organization.

Many of our members are not certified but keep comming to regional meetings and taking classes in Vegas. Those people are consistently learning and elevating their knowledge and expertise. We could consider giving them a title, calling them something like a "gold member" or whatever we think is appropriate. The requirements would be a membership for a minimum of 5 years, minimum of 7 PPFA learning sessions (combination of regional meetings and PPFA Vegas classes). Once the member has reach this status they would be able to download a personalized certificate on line for a fee of $25; have PPFA (fancy version) printed and mailed to them for a $75. PPFA can also give a press release about the change of status. There is a value when third party does this. Here again, we could have different press releases. We would charge $100 for each one in addition to the fee for paid press releases. This same model could work for those who earn certification. We could take it a step further and have PPFA staff contact framers local media. A framer would supply a list of newspapers or such and PPFA would charge for contacting each one lets say $25. After 10 years, we could award a "diamond membership".

Something like this could generate revenue and at the same time provide marketing for a member business.It also may ad value, encourage new people to join as well as boost attendance at the meetings.

Our membership fee is on the lower end compare to some other organizations I belong and if we have other programs we could make money would be good.

I hope I was ble to logically explain an idea, my brain is still cloudy from medications.
 
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