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Blog Salone del Franchising

 

Eleventh Edition of the
Franchising and Innovative Trade Expo
Catania, 7 - 9 March 2008

The 11th edition of the Salone del Franchising e del Commercio Innovativo [Franchising and Innovative Trade Expo] is a place for meetings and exchanges that is attended by the major representatives and economic players in franchising for Southern Italy, with a significant number of operating franchisors in attendance.
Previous editions of the Expo have achieved significant success, with some 9,000 visitors, divided among the public and those in the industry. All this because the aims of the event can be traced back to a desire to give an additional boost to Italian business and with this, to increase employment in the South; to create guidelines for good franchising; to reward those in the business who are socially more aware and committed; to create attention, participation and synergy.

UA great deal of media attention has been aroused due to the interesting phenomenon of growth in franchising – and as a result, to related events such as the Franchising and Innovative Trade Expo – which is involving Southern Italy. And this media attention is justified by the significant and unexpected energy with which franchising, an area of the economy that is as ground-breaking as it is tried and tested, has taken hold, giving an important boost to an overall economic situation that has been stagnant and lacking in drive.
The development of franchising in the south is growing. According to a report by Quadrante, considering an area in the Centre-South and the islands, covering: Abruzzi, Molise, Campania, Basilicata, Calabria, Apulia, Sicily, Sardinia and Latium, regions considered because they represent the intervention area concerning the Catania Expo, there were 179 franchisors in 2005. In that period, the total number of franchisors working in Italy was 722 (plus a further 7 that were not included because their operational headquarters are abroad). The 179 franchisors with operational headquarters in the Centre-South and the islands represent 24.59% of the total number of franchisors operating in every region of Italy.
One interesting factor is the focus on Sicily (Il Sole 24 ore Sud economic daily newspaper dated 24/04/2007), a region of Southern Italy where franchising is especially thriving, with 14% of the franchisors from the region of Latium downwards and 6.21% of franchisees compared to the total number for the whole of Italy. The percentages show important shares for the Centre-South and the islands compared to the rest of the country.
It is also necessary to point out that these figures do not necessarily include the complete total of franchisors and franchisees working in this area of the country and throughout Italy, since the findings of the Franchising Report drawn up by Quadrante Srl only consider franchisors with at least 3-5 franchisee sales outlets, in order to skim off and only consider those franchisors with a consolidated market presence. On one hand, this method avoids excessive swings in figures, overcoming the problem of turnover when it comes to young or unprofessional franchisors; but on the other, it does not consider newly established networks or those operating on the market with less than 3 franchisees. Moreover, the figures do not include Regional Master Franchisees (such as, for example Ticket Com or Husse, franchising networks operating abroad and working in Italy under Regional Master Franchisee licences), and they also do not include regional or multiregional franchisors.