← B.E. 40th ANNIVERSARY COVER GALLERY

nd-1991-SEPTEMBER

By Alfred Edmond, Jr. | Published August 8, 2010 | Full size is 500 × 320 pixels

Despite a tough recession, franchising was producing super returns for a number of entrepreneurs as our September 1991 cover illustrated. The composition of the BE Franchise 50 – our listing of the companies with the most black-owned franchise outlets – showed that 22% were in the fast food sector while 10% could be found in business/postal services, cleaning services and specialty foods, respectively. However, blacks were still woefully underrepresented in the total universe of franchising: only 3% of the more than 500,000 franchise outlets were minority-owned.

Despite a tough recession, franchising was producing super returns for a number of entrepreneurs as…