Midas Inc. has added SpeeDee quick lube services to 11 company-owned Midas Auto Service stores in the San Diego area in a $1 million-plus upgrade of stores in that area designed to attract new customers and enhance revenues.
Among the renovations carried out at the shops were new platform lifts in the oil change bays that enable a technician to ride up with the vehicle to work under the hood while a second technician works under the car, Midas said.
With the SpeeDee-dedicated oil-change bays, Midas claims customers can have their oil changed in about 20 minutes, complete with a 17-point inspection of brakes, tires, belts, hoses, fluids and lights without an appointment.
“Midas has performed oil changes for many years, but at many shops in the past customers were asked to make appointments or leave their cars and we would perform the oil change when we had an open bay,” said William Guzik, Midas' executive vice president.
To implement the added service, Midas hired 50 service employees, nearly doubling employment in the 11 San Diego-area shops to 103.
The conversion of theses stores brings to 19 the number of co-branded Midas-SpeeDee stores.
During the quarter ended July 4, Midas reported that sales at the eight co-branded SpeeDee-Midas shops in central California and in Chicago increased by 9.5 and 17 percent, respectively, over business before the conversions.
“This co-branding strategy…enables both Midas and SpeeDee to benefit from the strengths of the two brands' respective service offerings to provide the three most frequent vehicle maintenance services—oil changes, brakes and tires,” Mr. Guzik said.
He added the company is “encouraged by significant increases in both sales and car counts at these co-branded shops in California and Illinois. And daily traffic has doubled in each of the Midas shops in San Diego as we began adding SpeeDee oil change services during the second quarter.”
Midas expects to have approximately 25 co-branded locations in place by year-end and then to roll out the program throughout both the Midas and SpeeDee networks in the U.S. in 2010.
Midas also is promoting the SpeeDee oil-change service in San Diego through direct-mail coupons sent to area customers, offering oil changes at a grand opening special price of $19.99.
For each oil change purchased on Aug. 29, Midas-SpeeDee contributed $5 to the San Diego Fire Rescue Foundation.
Five of the Midas-SpeeDee co-branded shops are in San Diego and others are in Chula Vista, El Cajon, La Mesa, Oceanside, Poway and San Clemente.
Midas acquired the franchisor of the New Orleans-based SpeeDee system, which has 116 quick-lube and maintenance outlets in the U.S. and 57 in Mexico, in April 2008.
Midas has nearly 1,650 shops in the U.S. and Canada, and 800 in 13 other countries.
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