Fort Wayne Newspaper reported today that the Munchie Emporiums on Dupont and also on Maplecrest are changing their names because, as they put it "Munchie Emporiums are a thing of the past, but the Munchie spirit will live on in the restaurants that take their places." Horse hockey.

I’d like to point out that for starters, Mark Melchi – who founded the original Munchie with some partners downtown is now involved with the current owner of the two aforemetioned Munchies, one Rick Rutledge. Melchi was wildly successful during the downtown locations infancy however he proved a financial nightmare for his investors. Later ousted, he eventually attracted new investors to open another Munchie on Covington road only to once again be locked out by his investors.

Then came Annie’s Half Moon Cafe in Aboite. Yet again Melchi wasn’t paying his bills, and a new set of investors threw him out and closed the place down.

The owners of the downtown Muchie have opened two new restaurants, one in Auburn and the other in Warsaw and do not fly the Munchie nameplate because of franshise fees. The reason for the name change of the north Munchies? While I can’t be certain I suspect it’s in part because of royalties being paid to the current Munchie Emporium franchisor, and a desire on their part to distance themselves from Mr. Melchi.

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