The premise of my argument remains the same with the McDonald's/pharmacom analogy because we're talking about one easily identifiable product. I said the business models of the superstores you mentioned werent a fair comparison because they are bringing many brands together for you to shop from. Maybe Walmart is to Napsgear as McDonald's is to pharmacom?
It is still probably an unfair comparison because it's true, we're not talking about a franchise.
I am not all that familiar with McDonald's franchise policies... but I think you'd be surprised as to how much control the corporate office does have over the franchise - you're representing their brand after all.
So we agree, they do represent the brand.