"Cousin Vinny" Agnello: Subway Franchisee From Hell
June 5, 2008 by Richard Quick
(Franchising’s Worst Case Scenarios) The lively dispute between Anthony “Cousin Vinny” Agnello and Subway franchisor Doctor’s Associates, Inc. holds important lessons for both franchisors and prospective franchisees.
Prospective franchisees: If you are a maverick and a rulebreaker, don’t buy a franchise.
Franchisors: If your prospect is a maverick and a rulebreaker, don’t award him a franchise. Especially if he’s a pimp and strip club operator with “an arrest record that stretches from here to Timbuktu.”
According to a story on franchise site Blue Mau Mau, Vinny Agnello has a shady and well-publicized history that includes providing a stripper to a group of under-aged high school boys and multiple arrests for providing prostitutes, including a 17-year-old girl. Not the silent type, Cousin Vinny has been on CNN, Fox News and others, “ridiculing his detractors as being sexually repressed and hypocritical.”
Cousin Vinny attempts to “go legit.”
In 2007, according to BMM, Cousin Vinny Agnello decided to branch out into a legit business buy getting a Subway franchise for the Bronx, which he financed with the proceeds of his stripping and escort businesses.
Mr. Agnello describes how Doctor’s Associates Inc., the company who operates the Subway chain…failed to investigate his business background or criminal record. “Imagine that a guy like me can sneak into Corporate America,” he says. “I have an arrest record that stretches from here to Timbuktu.”
All went well until the end of his initial training session last year. Caught up in the spirit of graduating at a cocktail party, Vinny says he passed out business cards of his strippers for the enjoyment of his classmates and Doctor’s Associates staff. He notes that the Subway sandwich chain’s CEO, Mr. Fred DeLuca was in attendance.
“The next day they said it was a moral violation and they escorted me off the grounds,” says Mr. Agnello. According to him, Doctor’s Associates, Inc. relented. He could be an owner-operator if he signed a morals agreement. Firms require the signing of a morals agreement or clause to strengthen termination when they anticipate that a franchise owner could cause public embarrassment to the firm.
Vinny states he was specifically instructed to not promote strip clubs or lewd services at a Subway restaurant or function.
Cousin Vinny’s creative decor and marketing contributions not appreciated.
McDonald’s franchisees contributed such ideas as Ronald McDonald, the Filet o’ Fish and Chicken McNuggets. Cousin Vinny’s innovative contributions to Subway, which included in-store posters for sex dolls, were not quite as well received. According to BMM:
This year a representative of the company visited Vinny’s Subway restaurant in May. His restaurant walls had posters of sex dolls, nude dancing services and memorabilia of Mr. Agnello’s own colorful media history. At first he was given a 60-day cure period to fix the violations of store operating standards but according to him, the legal department decided to promptly terminate his franchise agreement instead.
In retribution, it seems, Agnello has turned his former restaurant into a strip club (called Cousin Vinny’s Little Secret) that offers both subs and lap dances. According to the text of Vinny’s promotional flyer, posted on gossip blogsite Gawker , includes reference to his Subway franchise: “Cannot remember our phone number? Simply call information for the number to the Subway Restaurant on East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx! Hope to see you soon!”
“Cousin Vinny” Agnello and Doctor’s Associates, Inc. are currently in arbitration to end a relationship that, in the end, will waste the time and money of all involved.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
__________________________
Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.
.
Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.
[...] the story of Subway franchise owner Cousin Vinny at Franchise dispute site [...]
[...] the story of Subway franchise owner Cousin Vinny at Franchise dispute site [...]
First of all there were no pictures of love dolls or sex toys or anything resembling such filfth at Cousin Vinny’s Subway Restaurant. The only thing that could in anyway be considered offensive was a poster sized version of the Diggs-Celebrity-Website story on Cousin Vinny Agnello. The headline of the story originally printed in all the Gannette Newspapers across the country was, “SEX SELLS AND VINCENT “COUSIN VINNY” AGNELLO KNOWS IT! The blurb featured stated that Cousin Vinny had enough bling to anchor a battleship and a long arrest record etc. If it was featured in the newspaper–how offensive could it be? Second of all he had pictures featuring him and numerous celebrities that he obviously knew and hung out with during his days as a bit part soap opera and movie actor and when he was the star stripper for many infamous male stripping reviews in the 1980’s. Also posted on his wall was a SUPER TEEN MAGAZINE story from 1988 featuring Mr. Agnello AKA COUSIN VINNY with such big celebs as Seth Green and Danny Nucci–it was something called, “HEAVENLY HUNKS”. What is so offensive about that? I have been to many restaurants/ famous restaurants that posted pictures of the owners with numerous celebrity patrons–would SUBWAY RESTAURANTS demand removal of photos with Michael J. Fox? Get a grip. Doctor’s Associates obviously breached their franchise agreement with Mr. Agnello AKA COUSIN VINNY. He was entitled to 60 days to get into compliance and he wasn’t given any opportunity to make changes and get in line so no wonder he decided to get even down the street at the new restaurant and use SUBWAY’s phone number.
It’s alraight for Goliath to kick David but they can’t take it when David kicks back.
I am sure you will be reading about Subway being sued by Cousin Vinny and Cousin Vinny being awarded a large settlement. All Doctor’s Associates had to do was wait out the 60 days and Cousin Vinny may have failed to remedy the violations and then they could have legally terminated his franchise agreement but their impatience caused them to do an illegal act to Cousin Vinny. Mr. Deluca and his representatives didn’t live by mother’s advice. Remember? PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE!