because they'd want to control everything to do with the new corporation. A successful chain like that tries to make everything right, everything the same across stores. They'd never just let some random guy in his store look like a semi-official reseller.

I hate that they ran him out of business. I hate companies that try to enforce the no-resell strategy. It's really another version of the "you can't work on your tractor or phone without my permission" strategy.