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Q: Background check on CEO ( Answered,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Background check on CEO
Category: Business and Money
Asked by: jno-ga
List Price: $50.00
Posted: 16 Mar 2006 13:54 PST
Expires: 15 Apr 2006 14:54 PDT
Question ID: 708094
Background check/info re: Vic Yosha....CEO of Denver-based franchisor
V2K; Window Decor & More

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 16 Mar 2006 14:47 PST
Hello jno-ga,

What kind of background information are you interested in regarding
Vic Yosha? Are you interested in information about V2K as a business?
The more information you can share about the purpose and context of
your question, the more likely I will be able to get you the
information you need. Thanks.

~ czh ~
Answer  
Subject: Re: Background check on CEO
Answered By: pafalafa-ga on 16 Mar 2006 17:02 PST
 
jno-ga,


Victor Yosha is the president of a well-established windows treatment
business and franchise, that has been in existence at least ten years.

The earliest mention of Mr. Yosha that I found was this newspaper article:



-----
The Seattle Times
December 27, 1990
TALE OF ONE OF SEATTLE'S MOST FAMOUS FACES IS NO FISH STORY

..."One thing I'm proud of," Sol said, "is that I've hired a lot of
kids and kept them off the streets. One of them went into the state
Department of Fisheries, another one joined the FBI...Still another
one, Vic Yosha, now owns his own computer company in Denver, a company
with 300 employees."

[NOTE:  I can only provide brief excerpts from newspaper articles,
since they are copyrighted]
-----



An article from the Denver Post gives a bit of Mr. Yosha's business
history even prior to 1990, and mentions the formation of his window
treatment business, which originally went by the name Vision 2000
Window Fashions:


-----
The Denver Post
November 22, 1997

New system dresses windows in minutes

.....Victor Yosha is a professional entrepreneur. In 1970, he started
American Office Equipment Co. in Denver, sold it in 1984 and left it
in 1987, then, with only part-time departures from home, started a
Seattle copier distributor in 1988, and sold it in 1994...In 1997,
he's into window fashions.

...Vision 2000 Window Fashions is a turn-of-the-century way to pick
out drapes, and Yosha and Bob and Linnie Leo are already franchising
the concept, starting in Denver, but with designers' eyes on the rest
of the country as well.

...The latest franchise holder is US Home, the state's second-largest
homebuilder....It was impressed enough with the Vision 2000 software
to buy three franchises - at a fee of $ 13,500 each - with the
intention of locating them within three new home-design centers they
will roll out in January to help US Home customers design the insides
of their homes even before carpenters start framing them.

...Essentially it's a computer with software that does the Vision 2000
tricks and calculations, and the right to hook up to the company's
distribution system which will purchase materials for the order and
send them back to you for installation.
-----



Vision 2000 Window Fashions has since been renamed V2K Window
Fashions.  I checked this business in several business directories,
and saw nothing that raised any obvious red flags.  For instance,
here's part of the listing from the US Business Directory:



-----
V2K CORPORATE  
1127 URARIA PKWY  
DENVER, CO  80204 UNITED STATES  
TEL: 303-202-1120


EXECUTIVES: VICTOR YOSHA, OWNER
CREDIT: SATISFACTORY (Listed in other sources as 'Good')


V2K's sales were listed in the directories as under $500,000/year,
though I must say, given the number of franchisees the business has, I
wonder if the current sales aren't somewhat higher than that.
-----




I'm sure you're familiar with the company's website:



-----
http://www.v2k.com/
We Are Different From Other Window Covering Stores
 

We come to your home with a laptop computer, measure your windows and
walls and  let you see what your window fashions will look like on
your windows before you buy them!

While we are measuring, you can view photos of actual room settings on
our computer screen and make notes on which treatments appeal to you.
-----


which includes numerous articles and press releases about the company,
which you may want to look over.  One of the most interesting was
V2K's rankings in Entrepreneur Magazine, which has consistently put
the company close to -- or in -- the Top 100 franchises in several
categories:


-----
http://www.entrepreneur.com/franzone/details/0,5885,12-12---299925-3,00.html?section=rankings
V2K Window Decor & More

Rankings in Entrepreneur magazine 2002-2006

Franchise 500 rank:
#189 (2006) ; #194 (2005) ; #279 (2004) ; #374 (2003) 


Fastest-Growing Franchises:
#78 (2005) ; #59 (2004) 

Top 101 Homebased Franchises:
#50 (2006) ; #54 (2005) ; #80 (2004) 

Top Low-Cost Franchises:
#107 (2003) 

America's Top Global Franchises:
#149 (2006) ; #145 (2005) 
-----




Other articles linked to from the site are listed here:


http://www.v2k.com/articles.htm

New Faces New Places
(Reprinted from Go River, 2005)

Windows, treatments, more than window dressing
(Reprinted from 17th Annual Hampton Roads Home & Garden Expo, February 9, 2006)

College Park Resident is Proud Owner of Top Franchise
(Reprinted from Windermere Lifestyle, August 2004)

New franchise opens in Kennebunk
(Reprinted from Kennebunk Post, 7 May 2004)

A new way to treat your window treatments 
(Reprinted from www.SuburbanChicagoNews.com, Jim Faber, Staff Writer,
15 February 2004)

V2K. Weird name. Beautiful new concept in window fashions. 
(Reprinted from TexasHomeandGarden.com)

Strengthening the Industry through Community: 
V2K Window Fashions Provides Scholarships for Tomorrow's Designers 
(Reprinted from Window Fashions, Design & Education Magazine, August
2002, Vol. 23, No. 8)

New system dresses windows in minutes 
(Reprinted from the Schwab On Small Business, Denver Post, Robert Schwab)



I found another article while searching:


-----
http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/08/20/sections/home_garden/hg_design/article_640310.php
Saturday, August 20, 2005 
New drapes may be only a screen away 


....Now there is a new high-tech alternative ? V2K, the Virtual Window
Fashion Store. The Colorado company's local franchisees will come to
your house and measure your walls and windows. Then, with software
created by co-owner Bob Leo, V2K will simulate what the finished job
will look like. There are 2,000 fabric choices, from
single-digit-per-yard stuff to $200-per-yard upscale design textiles.

..."We carry all the major brand-name products plus our own brands and
a private fabric line called Contempo," said Vic Yosha, president and
chief executive officer of V2K.
-----
 


and you can here an audio recording of Mr. Yosha on this internet radio station:


-----
http://www.wsradio.com/entrepreneurfranchise/homeimprovementarchive.htm
05.11.05 V2K Window Fashions
Vic Yosha, President, V2K Window Fashions  
-----



You can see a large list of almost 200 V2K franchisees(probably close
to all of them) in the US and Canada at this search result link:


://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2003-43,GGLD:en&q=site:www%2Ev2k%2Ecom+inurl%3Afranchisees
V2K Window Fashion Consultant




Mr. Yosha's business filings with the State of Colorado are viewable
at the Secretary of State's website:


http://www.sos.state.co.us/biz/InquiryMenu.do
Business Entity Filing 


Searching on V2K turned up a slew of filings, most of them pro forma
and rather uninteresting.  However, here are some of the more
pertinent tidbits:




Name:  V2K WINDOW FASHIONS, INC.  
Registered Agent:  ROBERT J. WITTENBRINK  
Registered Agent Street Address:  1127 AURARIA PKWY STE 203, DENVER,
CO 80204, United States


Status:Good Standing 
Formation Date:  07/24/1996  



You can see the actual original filing -- which lists the company officers -- here:


http://esnips.com/web/GoogleAnswers


by clickong on the file named "V2K-Yosha.jpg".


 



Lastly, I checked their record with the Better Business Bureau. 
Although they're not a BBB member, they still come up pretty clean:



-----
http://www.denverbbb.org/custom/search.cfm

BBB Reliability Report
V2K Window Fashions(Corporate HQ)
1127 Auraria Pkwy #204
Denver, CO 80204

Original Business Start Date: 12/01/95
Principal: Vic Yosha, President/CEO
Phone Number: 303-202-1120
Membership Status: no
Type of Business: Draperies & Curtains-Retail/Custom


CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Based on BBB files, this company has a satisfactory record with the Bureau. 


Number of complaints processed by the BBB in last 36 Months: 0
-----




That's all I came across regarding Mr. Yosha and the V2K business that he heads.

I trust this information fully answers your question.  

However, please don't rate this answer until you have everything you
need.  If you would like any additional information, just post a
Request for Clarification to let me know how I can assist you further,
and I'm at your service.

All the best,

pafalafa-ga



search strategy -- Searched Google and numerous databases for
variations of [ Vic OR Victor Yosha ] [v2k ]

Request for Answer Clarification by jno-ga on 17 Mar 2006 21:23 PST
i know all about the business (wife owns a V2K franchise here in
Illinois); V2K saying they are going public; just trying to establish
how credible mr yosha is. any lawsuits ?  criminal record ?  anything
that would give one pause to buy into his spiel ?

Clarification of Answer by pafalafa-ga on 18 Mar 2006 05:13 PST
jno-ga,

Thanks for clarifying what you're after.

It's not unusual for a business or a business person to be involved in
lawsuits, and sure enough, I did find one case -- from more than a
decade ago -- involving Mr. Yosha.

The case was retrieved through a legal database, and is not directly
available online.  But I'll give you the salient points.

The case is:

TIMOTHY R. SCHENCK, Plaintiff-Appellee, 

v. 

MINOLTA OFFICE SYSTEMS, INC., VICTOR J. YOSHA, and RUSSELL RUMLEY,
Defendants-Appellants

No. 89CA0649
Court of Appeals of Colorado, Division Two
802 P.2d 1131
June 28, 1990, Filed



The case, which eventually was appealed all the up to the Colorado
Supreme Court, charged the defendants (Yosha included) with malicious
(i.e. deliberately false) prosecution.

In a nutshell, Schenk worked at the American Office Equipment (AOE)
Company until 1985...Yosha was the vice-president of this company
(Minolta eventually purchased AOE, which is how they got involved in
this case).  Schenk was directed to sell some of the company's
equipment, and while the sale was being arranged, announced that he
was leaving the company.  His resignation upset Yosha, who eventually
charged Schenk with stealing company equipment.  This is what led to
the lawsuit of malicious prosecution.

As summarized in the case itself:


==========
Testimony at trial revealed that plaintiff completed the paperwork
necessary to document this action [of selling equipment], that Yosha
had agreed to allow plaintiff to use the supplies to sell the
equipment, and that Yosha was upset because plaintiff had recently
given his notice of resignation to start his own company.

On February 5, 1985, Yosha ordered another AOE employee to notify the
Jefferson County Sheriff's Department of a theft at AOE. After an
investigation, a criminal complaint alleging theft was filed against
plaintiff.

On May 31, 1985, AOE commenced a civil suit against plaintiff for
alleged violation of non-competition agreements. Thereafter, in
November 1985, plaintiff signed a settlement agreement and mutual
release with respect to AOE's civil claims. The agreement made no
mention of the criminal complaint against plaintiff.

On June 21, 1985, in the criminal case, after plaintiff's preliminary
hearing, a county judge found that probable cause existed and bound
plaintiff over to the district court for trial. Subsequently, the
District Attorney moved to dismiss the criminal complaint because of
insufficient evidence.
==========


As you can see, it's messy business, but the courts eventually upheld
Schenk's claim that he was falsely charged with theft, and awarded him
several hundred thousand dollars in damages (which, by the way, led to
another lawsuit between Schenk and his attorney as to how to divvy up
the cash!).


Beyond that, though, I found nothing about Yosha in a background
search of both legal and criminal history.


Hope that adds some useful perspective for your consideration.


paf
Comments  
Subject: Re:
From: mikeroyal-ga on 18 Apr 2006 13:36 PDT
 
Hi sorry to hijack your thread but I am just starting the process of
looking at the V2K franchise so would appreciate any feed back about
this concept especially from jno-ga as your wife has already started
Thanks in Advance Mick

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