Franchise businesses account for a whopping 10.5% of all companies [...]

About 20 franchisees who own 50-plus Cell Phone Repair stores [...]

Many Cell Phone Repair operators were excited when their new parent, insurance giant Assurant Inc., bought the brand from investment firm Merrymeeting Group in 2019, with the typical gushing by both parties. “Assurant is well positioned to help continuously drive new traffic to CPR stores,” said Merrymeeting Group Founder John Davies in one statement at the time. The kind words are history, with the CPR Independent Owners Association suing Assurant, claiming it “changed the deal” and imposed “onerous new burdens on its franchisees, wholly to benefit itself at their expense,” said a lawsuit seeking class-action status filed last June.