Longtime Atlanta-based Dealer Feels Franchise Competition Pressure – Window Film Magazine

Chris Robinson, owner of Tint Guy, operates two locations in the Atlanta area: one in Kennesaw and one in Woodstock, Georgia. Robinson is a fixture in the window film industry, having been a guest speaker at several industry-wide events and moderator of an online window film forum. He has been named regional dealer of the year for 3M several times.

Managing 16 employees across two locations is a big enough task, but now there’s something else in its free space: new competition.

When Oklahoma City-based Turbo Tint opened a franchise just a half-mile from its Kennesaw store, it didn’t think too much about it.

“The first thing I thought was that it’s not like there are empty buildings everywhere,” Robinson admits.

But when he learned from one of his sales representatives that another Turbo Tint location was opening in the area, this time less than a half-mile from its Woodstock, Georgia, location, he had some doubts. suspicions.

“If I was looking to open a business in a city, I wouldn’t want to put it next to the most established and largest business,” he says. “It could just be that the owners live there, but with a population of over 6 million and seven counties, their first two stores are within a mile of my two stores. Coincidence? Certainly not.”

Turbo Tint’s franchise page lists three market types: available, limited, and unavailable. In the ideal candidate description, it is stated that he or she would “seek to scale quickly by becoming a regional developer or opening 3-5 locations.”

It lists the following markets as “Sold Out” on its FAQ page: Orlando, Delray Beach, Pompano Beach and Sarasota, Florida, Oklahoma City, New Orleans and North Dallas (Frisco & McKinney).

Metro Atlanta is among the fastest-growing in the country, and Robinson’s stores are in areas where homes tend to sell for $600,000 or more, he says.

“It’s not like we live in the only up-and-coming neighborhood, but our neighborhood is saturated with window tinting companies,” he explains, noting that 85 percent of his customers come within a 25-minute radius. km around its two stores.

With existing and incoming stores, Robinson knows to step up his game.

“You can’t really see the Kennesaw store from the main road and the Turbo Tint you can see,” he said. It therefore plans to invest massively in advertising for which it already devotes 5 to 10% of its gross revenues to exposure via social networks, Google Ads and even derivative products.

It could even compete with its new neighbors in a whole new way: by becoming a franchise itself. This has been a long-standing consideration of its growth strategy.

“Besides the idea of ​​selling the business for millions of dollars and retiring to the Bahamas, franchising was always seen as the next growth area,” he explains, and with the opening of Turbo Held in his garden, “the idea of ​​the franchise became a priority. higher priority. Maybe this is the next step in my career.

Atlanta is indeed saturated not only with individual tint stores but also with franchises. Window Film magazine’s franchise map shows that this is the only metropolitan area with all of the region’s map participants.

Robinson says he hasn’t felt any loss of business due to the existing franchise located near his one store, but he constantly monitors trends in his business.