IRVINE, Calif. (Jan. 16, 2014) — Midas International Corp. and Meineke Car Care Centers earned top billing among tire retail and automotive service franchises on Entrepreneur magazine's 36th annual Franchise 500 ranking, published in the magazine's January issue.
In all, Entrepreneur included nine automotive-service-related franchise systems among the Top 500 along with two parts/tools franchise systems and one quick oil change system.
TBC Corp.'s Midas unit and Meineke — both of which have initiated efforts to make tires a bigger part of their business portfolios — were rated 35th and 53rd, respectively.
TBC's Big O Tires L.L.C. unit was the next highest ranked, at 158th.
Entrepreneur said it judges franchise systems on objective, quantifiable measures of a franchise operation, such as financial strength and stability, growth rate and size of the system.
The magazine also takes into consideration the number of years a company has been in business and the length of time it's been franchising, as well as startup costs, litigation, percentage of terminations and whether the company provides financing. Financial data area analyzed by an independent CPA.
To be eligible for the Franchise 500, Entrepreneur said, a franchisor must have a minimum of 10 units, with at least one franchise located in the U.S., and be seeking new franchisees in the U.S. It cannot be in Chapter 11 at the time the ranking is compiled.
The magazine does not measure subjective elements such as franchisee satisfaction or management style.
The rest of the tire/automotive service firms listed were:
- Tuffy Associates/Car-X Associates Inc., No. 248;
- Christian Brothers Automotive Corp., No. 249;
- Precision Tune Auto Care, No. 283;
- RNR Custom Wheels & Tire Express, No. 298;
- Honest-1 Auto Care L.L.C., No 328; and
- Rim Tyme, No. 333
In addition, Entrepreneur listed Snap-on Tools (No. 25) and Mighty Distributing System (No. 430), along with Jiffy Lube International Inc. (No. 27) and Valvoline Instant Oil Change (No. 58) in the quick lube category.