Word: dents
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Americans buy everything from burgers to coffee to karate lessons at franchises. They're convenient, predictable and often cheap. So why not try franchising a service most of us avoid like a trip to the dentist? Actually, it is a trip to the dentist. Meet Vital Dent, purveyors of franchise dentistry...
Standing convention on its head--usually U.S. firms are the ones franchising their businesses in Europe--Vital Dent, based in Las Rozas de Madrid, Spain, launched its first U.S. location in New York City in December 2004. (Privately held Vital Dent operates some 250 offices in Spain, Portugal and Italy, most of them franchises.) Since then, the company has opened nine more dental offices there, all with an identical high-gloss, minimalist look, and seven more are under construction in Florida and Massachusetts. In the U.S., Vital Dent plans to draw traffic by offering new patients free cleaning, X rays...
...Vital Dent's founder, Ernesto Colman Mena, believes he will get people in the door by emphasizing convenience, reasonable prices and new technology, including the latest in dental implants. "That's what works in Spain," Colman says through a translator. In 2005 Vital Dent was second in Spain only to Burger King in attracting franchise investment, according to Franchisa, an industry consulting firm. And he hopes a similar strategy will appeal to Americans looking for an alternative to the old-fashioned neighborhood dentist. "The United States market offers a great opportunity," says Colman...
...will beperforming songs from their as-of-yet-unreleased new album. Nabbing Radiohead for its only U.S. festival appearance was a coup for Bonnaroo, demonstrating that the festival, previously regarded as a backwoods Mecca for roots rock and hippie-tinged "jam bands,"has managed to shift its image and dent Coachella's reputation as the nation's coolest summer rock happening. Coachella's relatively underwhelming lineup last April was probably hurt more than helped by the last-minuterecruitment of Madonna, who had some hard-core rockers grumbling that the festival hadbesmirchedits indie-rock soul with Material Girl pop gloss...
...recent years--about 10% of the total in the free-trade zone, necessitating a move up-market. Good telecommunications could make the country suitable for outsourcing, including call centers, but the D.R. is just beginning to train the legions of computer-savvy English speakers it needs to make a dent in swelling youth unemployment. Only 10% of students finish high school...