Marquette Law Review Volume 87 Article 3 Issue 2 Winter 2003 Red Owl's Legacy Gregory M. Duhl Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr Part of the Law Commons Repository Citation Gregory M. Duhl, Red Owl's Legacy, 87 Marq. L. Rev. (2003). Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr/vol87/iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marquette Law Review by an authorized administrator of Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. RED OWL'S LEGACY GREGORY M. DUHL* In the early 1960s, Joseph Hoffman, a high school graduate, baker and father of seven, sought to obtain a Red Owl grocery store franchise in Wisconsin. He entered into negotiations with Red Owl Stores, Inc. after the franchisor assured him that the $18,000 he had to invest in the franchise was sufficient. Over the course of the negotiations, Red Owl encouraged Hoffman to sell his bakery, buy a small grocery store to gain experience in the grocery business, sell his grocery store three months later, and move his family to the desired location for his Red Owl franchise. The negotiations fell apart after Red Owl raised the amount of the investment required of Hoffman beyond what he could afford. Hoffman lost his bakery business and lost the franchise that he coveted. Despite the fact that Hoffman and Red Owl had yet to enter into a contract, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin in Hoffman v.