The Connoisseur vs Tastings Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of The Connoisseur vs Tastings including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees

 
The Connoisseur Franchise
Tastings Franchise
Investment $200,000 - $270,000$300,000
Franchise Fee $29,500N/A
Royalty Fee 6%5%
Advertising Fee -1%
Year Founded 1972-
Year Franchised 1988-
Term Of Agreement 10 years-
Term Of Agreement 10 years-
Renewal Fee --


Business Experience Requirements

 
The Connoisseur Franchise
Tastings Franchise
Experience
  • Marketing skills
  • -

    Financing Options

     
    The Connoisseur Franchise
    Tastings Franchise
      In-House/3rd PartyIn-House/3rd Party
    Franchise Fees No/No-/-
    Start-up Costs No/No-/-
    Equipment No/No-/-
    Inventory No/No-/-
    Receivables No/No-/-
    Payroll No/No-/-

    Training & Support

     
    The Connoisseur Franchise
    Tastings Franchise
    Training --
    Support Meetings, Toll-free phone line, Grand opening, Internet, Security/safety procedures, Field operations/evaluations, Purchasing cooperatives-
    Marketing Co-op advertising, Ad slicks-
    Operations 0% of all franchisees own more than one unit

    Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 2

    Absentee ownership of franchise is allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

    -

    Expansion Plans

     
    The Connoisseur Franchise
    Tastings Franchise
    US Expansion --
    Canada Expansion No-
    International Expansion No-

    Company Overviews

    About The Connoisseur

    Packaged with personalized labels, wine sold by Sanford and Annalisa French's company comes from vineyards in California and cellars in Europe. While it is illegal to ship wine directly to consumers in 39 states, Redondo Beach, California-based The Connoisseur has established a network of franchises and distributors that, like florists, can take orders from other stores and deliver wine and other gifts within 48 hours.

    About Tastings

    "Tastings" is truly about creating a wonderful and unique "Wine Experience" for our customers. We are Friends, Neighbors, and Wine Enthusiasts who happened upon a remarkable wine bar in Italy. After sheer amazement at the progressive wine-sampling technology, we knew we had to share it with everyone back home. After years of research and hard work, not to mention a lot of wine "sampling", we opened Tastings with the intention of impressing everyone else beyond the limits of how the bar in Italy impressed us. Tastings opened its first location in the dynamic area of downtown St Petersburg, FL in 2005. After months of inquiries and wishes for other locations, we decided to franchise Tastings in order to share this exciting new concept with everyone across the nation. It was in August of 2006 that we sold our first franchise and then our second franchise just a few months later. The level of interest since then has only intensified and we are looking forward to an exhilarating new year. We hope you will find the comfortable atmosphere of Tastings to be that of your own home. Entertaining with friends and enjoying wine & food is truly a passion of ours, and we are excited to share with you the venue to do so yourself. Cheers! Penny Maso, President