KIM MARINOFF Franchise Consultant & Broker
Kim Marinoff Franchise Consultant is owner of A2B Franchise Consulting in Colorado. Marinoff is a former Quiznos Sub franchisee and is an active franchise broker and seller. Have you bought a franchise through or been counseled by Kim Marinoff? How did it work out? Please leave a comment below.
(UnhappyFranchisee.Com) Franchise “consultant” (ie franchise seller) Kimberly Patricia Marinoff is owner of A2B Franchise Consulting, LLC dba The Franchise Explorer.
Kim Marinoff offers “free” franchise consulting services. In actuality, she is a commissionable franchise broker who gets large fees (likely half of the $40,000 franchise fee – or more) for deals she can help close.
Kim Marinoff states that most of her prospective franchisees are in their fifties, and Kim will encourage them to roll over their 401Ks and retirement accounts to make franchise investments that range into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Some claim that Kim Marinoff will make untrue statements and misrepresentations (such as understating the actual investment amount necessary) in order to sign up a franchise investor and collect her fee.
In a self-promotional YouTube video titled “The Kim Marinoff Story,” Kim Marinoff claims buying a franchise is nearly risk-free, citing a bogus franchise statistic that was discredited and disproved many years ago.
Kim Marinoff owns A2B Franchise Consulting, Broomfield, CO
According to Colorado Secretary of State, Kim Marinoff formed A2B Franchise Consulting LLC on 06/20/2011.
The corporate address for A2B Franchise Consulting LLC is 4529 Castle Lane, Broomfield, CO 80023
An associated address: A2B FRANCHISE CONSULTING, LLC 14233 WATERSIDE LN BROOMFIELD, CO 80023
(14233 Waterside Lane address also associated with the Law Office of Brandon Marinoff)
On her LinkedIn profile, Kim Marinoff states she’s in the business of making dreams come true:
My services are at no cost to you, nor bind or obligate you in any way. I have been in franchising for 19 years, have owned 9 franchise businesses, and worked with an international franchise corporation in training, operations, sales and development… . I am committed and passionate about connecting you with a franchise in which you will achieve success, and (at the risk of sounding like an old cliché) make your dreams come true.
Kim Marinoff Professional Affiliations/Broker’s Associations
- Franchise Broker’s Association (FBA)
- International Franchise Professionals Group (IFPG)
- Franchise Growth Systems (FG360)
Franchise Opportunities Kim Marinoff Has Promoted &/or Sold
- Clubstore Outlet (Chief Development Officer) (2016-17)
- Quiznos Sub (Franchisee & corp. employee Aug 1998 – Nov 2009)
- Schooley Mitchell
- BizCard Express (Sold 10 as of 2013)
- Social Media 1st (license opportunity)
- Social 5 Development (Master Developer)
- Dine In 2Nite
- Zoyo Neighborhood Yogurt (2011)
Kim Marinoff – Prior Business Entities
According to her LinkedIn Profile, Kim Marinoff was Operations/Sales/Development/Training/Owner/Operator for Quiznos Sub during an 11 year period, from
Aug 1998 – Nov 2009. Positions included:
- *EVP of Operations-Colorado (90 stores)
*Owner/Operator of 6 units
*Sold 209 units in 2002
*District Manager (8 stores)
According to Kim Marinoff’s Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filing in 2010, she owned and/or operated these businesses:
- Toasted in Lafayette, Inc. (2004-2010 Dissolved)
- Toasted in Boulder, LLC (2002-2010 Dissolved)
- Rocky Mountain Waste Solutions, LLC (2006 – 2011 Delinquent)
Kim Marinoff Quiznos Franchise Ownership Ended in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in 2010
On 8/10/10, Kim Marinoff filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy protection in United States Bankruptcy Court District of Colorado.
The reason for the bankruptcy was primarily business debts.
Kim Marinoff claimed to have 50-99 creditors, liabilities between $100,000 – $500,000 and assets worth less than $50,000.
Kim Marinoff – Alleged Falsehoods & Red Flags
In 2016 – 2018, Kim Marinoff was a franchise broker and/or Chief Development Officer promoting and selling Clubstore Outlet franchises.
Clubstore Outlet franchisees have called the short-lived franchise offering a “scam” and a “ponzi scheme.”
More than half of the franchise locations that opened have closed, others paid $40,000 – $60,000 fees and never opened, and others struggle on without corporate support.
One former Clubstore Outlet franchisee, who had extensive dealings with her, alleges that Kim Marinoff is an extremely deceitful franchise seller who c
onsistently and knowingly underrepresented startups costs to close sales and get commissions from underfunded franchise buyers who would later fail.
Kim Marinoff promoted ClubStore Outlet as “a fun, highly-profitable, upscale neighborhood Discount Store that offers high quality products at deeply discounted prices. The franchise opportunity is an affordable start-up concept with great upside.”
Her claims that Clubstore Outlet was “a FUN, SIMPLE, PROFITABLE business” is disputed by ruined franchise owners who claim that it was neither fun, nor simple, nor profitable from the day their check cleared.
Kim Marinoff Allegedly Hyped & Sold Clubstore Outlet Franchises Even as Chain Imploded
There is a good indication that Kim Marinoff continued to promote and sell Clubstore Outlet franchises even after all the initial franchisees had failed.
It’s been reported that in the 6 months prior to May, 2017, all of the original franchisees left the system (MS, ND, FL, CO, TN, etc.) and many others were struggling to stay in business.
In a “brokers only” conference call around that time, it was stated none of the remaining Clubstore Outlet franchisees had anything positive to say about their relationship and experience with the company.
Yet despite significant closures and franchisee distress, it appears that Kim Marinoff continued to hype and promote what was clearly a non-viable franchise concept.
In a July 12, 2017 recruitment message to a group of franchise brokers, Kim Marinoff wrote:
Message From:
Kim Marinoff kim@clubstoreoutlet.com
Re: Clubstore Outlet
Clubstore Outlet is on the MOVE!!!! Some exciting news for you:• This past week we awarded a master territory in Houston and a single unit in Ohio.
• We are opening 4 more stores over the next 4 weeks in GA, NC, PA and TX. This will bring us to 9 open stores, another 14 under development, and 12 master territories awarded…
Kim Marinoff Spreads the Long-Debunked Franchise Lie
In her YouTube video “The Kim Marinoff Story,” Ms. Marinoff spreads the long-discredited falsehood about the success rate of franchise businesses vs. independent businesses.
The debunked statistic is well-known among franchise professionals as an outright lie. The IFA issued a message years ago that the claim is not valid and should not be used by its members.
Yet In her video, Kim Marinoff states:
Franchising has an ENORMOUS success rate…
95% of people who bought a franchise 5 years ago are still in business today…
and it’s almost the exact opposite statistic for people who try to do it on their own…
In Marinoff’s video, she also states:
“I love that I can help people… people in these economic times are struggling, they can’t find jobs. Most of my clients are in their fifties… they come from the corporate world… they’ve got 401Ks and you can actually roll over a 401K into a franchise without a tax or penalty… But you can have a self-directed IRA… a lot of people don’t know that they can do that…
“You can create something for yourself that is yours… and that you can take so much pride in… and build and create and develop… and nobody can ever take that away from you… “
Many Clubstore Outlet franchisees would strongly disagree with Kim Marinoff.
They bought a franchise based, in part, on the trust they put in Kim Marinoff, and fellow brokers including Pam Currie, Kathy Hylton, Jerry Rieder and Dennis Martineau of Franserve.
Since the Clubstore Outlet franchisor closed up shop, Clubstore Outlet can be said to have a 0% success rate and a 100% failure rate.
And some franchisees feel they’ve had EVERYTHING taken from them.
NOTE: Companies and individuals discussed on UnhappyFranchisee.Com are invited to provide corrections, clarifications, rebuttals and alternative points-of-view by posting a comment below or emailing us in confidence at UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com.
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH KIM MARINOFF & A2B FRANCHISE CONSULTING? DID YOU HAVE A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE OR A NEGATIVE ONE WORKING WITH HER AND HER FRANCHISES? PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
ALSO READ:
FRANCHISE DISCUSSIONS by Company
TAPP PALMER, Clubstore Outlet Franchise: What Happened?
CLUBSTORE OUTLET: Chris Conner, Franchise Marketing Systems (FMS) Success Story?
TAPP PALMER Clubstore Outlet: Where’d the Money Go?
READ The Series “Dr. John Hayes’ Franchise Fraud School & Pay-For-Praise Emporium!”: Dr. John Hayes’ Franchise Fraud School
TAGS: Kim Marinoff, Kimberly Marinoff, Kim Patricia Marinoff, The Franchise Explorer, A2B Franchise Consulting, Broomfield CO, franchise brokers, franchise consultants, IFPG, Franchise Brokers Association, Clubstore Outlet, Clubstore Outlet, Clubstore Outlet franchise, Tapp Palmer, Kathy Hylton, Pamela Currie, Jerry Rieder, Dennis Martineau, Franserve, Franserve franchise brokers, International Franchise Professionals Group, unhappy franchisee
Kim, Was still trying to sell Clubstore Outlet when she knew full well that Tapp had no supply chain or support system. She was in it for the money only and the higher commissions Tapp paid to fraudulent take money from hardworking families.
You’re a little light, Sean. Most likely, Marinoff earned a MINIMUM $20,000 commission on every single unit she helped sell. The Franchise King®, Joel Libava
Sadly. She’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to franchise brokers. Amazing piece of reporting that her own franchise experience ended in bankruptcy and now she leads other sheep down the gangplank for slaughter.
She came from Quiznos? Learning from the best!
Does anyone know what percentage of franchise sales are generated by or involve a franchise broker (dba “franchise consultant”)?
It seems to me that most franchise brokers are either clueless victims themselves who have been sold a franchise to sell franchises (remember Kramer’s coffee table book that folded out to be a coffee table?) & are being fleeced with overpriced useless leads, or the ones who are (perhaps intentionally) clueless about franchising but are masters of fake sincerity and devoid of any trace of conscience.
There’s a video with Kim Marinoff that I may repost here shortly. In it she talks about how much she cares about her franchise buyers, most of whom are in their fifties. She uses a fake statistic to claim that they won’t get ahead by working a job. She gets excited talking about how she can help them roll their 401Ks into a franchise. Then she cites the fake, bogus, long-discredited lie that 96% of franchises are in business after 5 years vs. 96% failure rate of independent start-ups in the same time frame.
I looked into another broker who sold Clubstore Outlet franchises named Kathy Hylton (aka Kathy Gray). Since 2015, Kathy and her husband Michael (goes by Jon) own Franchise Plus Consulting, Springfield, IL and are members of Franserve.
I suspect this their story. They haven’t responded to my request for comment:
PASTOR RESIGNS OVER PHONY MARRIAGE TO FRIEND
http://host.madison.com/news/local/pastor-resigns-over-phony-marriage-to-friend/article_064019b5-e8bc-5b50-ac94-6b8b82e058ae.html
It seems that Michael Hylton was once pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in West Salem, Wisconsin. He started having an affair with Kathy Gray soon after his wife died. Kathy Gray abandoned her husband and children to move in with Pastor Mike Hylton. They told the congregation they had been married in Hawaii and accepted wedding gifts and well wishes. Turned out they were never married, Kathy Hylton was still married to her bitter first husband David, and Pastor Mike was driven out of his church for adultery and lying.
There are several articles about the scandal in WI newspapers and angry websites put up by her abandoned husband David (http://sexliesandpastormike.com/, http://www.liarinthepulpit.com/).
If this is the same couple that ended up selling Clubstore Outlet franchises, I guess it was a logical career move for them to become franchise brokers… a career where truth and honesty isn’t a requirement.
Kim Marinoff’s bankruptcy should have been disclosed by the franchisor in the Franchise Disclosure Document.
Brokers making illegal earnings claims are rampant and pernicious in franchising and franchisors have lost control of it.
I would never buy another franchise again, it is so full of crooks and unregulated.
Kim care to comment on this and explain your strategy.
Kim’s only comment will be….can she sell you another franchise.
Kim can answer and it’s fair and reasonable to allow her to do so.
Kim isn’t the only one in here that needs to answer their are a lot of Franchise Consultants that are crooked, just like there are a lot of good ones as well. It really taints the whole franchise community when you have people kike Kim, Dennis Martineau and Kathy Hylton.
Ask Kim to help solve these questions http://www.thefranchiseexplorer.com/contact.asp
Great article exposing the franchising broker system that very seldom does any good for potential franchisees and most brokers are only interested in closing the sale to get a franchise of some kind sold so they can earn there commission.
Most franchise broker salespeople have to also pay a franchise fee just to to be able to represent the Broker. It is a corrupt system that confuses potential franchisees and leads them to believe they are getting free help when all they are getting is an expensive con job.
Kim Marinoff is not doing something that the majority of others in the Franchise Brokering community do daily. However her YouTube video was probably not the most well thought out plan since now there is damming evidence that she is not being honest. But most in the field are not worried about honesty and integrity they are caught up in a cycle of whatever it takes to close a deal and then move on to the next victim.
I don’t believe that most individuals who become franchise brokers started out with the concept of fooling the ones they sell these franchises too. But the industry is very lucrative and the commissions are insane at times.
Once again Sean is showing what the major issues are in franchising like no other person out there. The key to stopping this madness is education and there are not very many people out there willing to put the time and effort in educating consumers. PLUS there are a multitude of Brokers and franchisees that make getting the truth out difficult.
Ole Kim is posting videos on YouTube within that last week. She has quite a few out there, I guess Franchise Sales are slow for her. She was still trying to sell Clubstore Outlet right up to the end with ole Tapp Palmer in charge. She knew there wasn’t no supply chain with Clubstore Outlet. She knew full well what she was selling, but yet still trying to sell these franchises off to unsuspecting people knowing full well they weren’t getting a franchise with support or supply chain, but yet garbage in return for their money. Why you ask? Well she was getting paid quite well from ole Tappy Palmer!
And some of these broker groups sell “licenses” and call themselves “organizations” when they really just want to get you to part with an upfront fee and then monthly subscriptions.
Any company that has “.org” after their website url or has a logo designed to make you think that they are part of a real organization, should be carefully reviewed.