25 years ago buying a franchise was a worthy endeavor. A guy could buy a house and send kids to school.
I knew a couple of these guys.
Snap On in their greed to grow the franchises divided territories and regions into dime sized slices, overlap and fighting happened.
Online sales started taking a chunk out of the route guys.
Online sales started exposing everyone to the worlds premier vendors reducing Snap Ons "mystique" as the best in the world.
When a guy with a snap on budget started getting their hands on - Hazet, Facom, Stahwhile, Cornwell, Koken, Nepros they started liking what they saw felt and experienced.
The only guys making money are the guys with the long established good routes that will hold onto them till they day they die.