Former Franchisee Leads Investment Group That Acquires Franchise Concepts, Inc., Franchisor of Deck The Walls, Framing & Art Centre and the Great Frame Up Stores.Business Editors ST. LOUIS, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 2004 Franchise Concepts, Inc. (FCI (Flux Changes per Inch) The measurement of polarity reversals on a magnetic surface. In MFM, each flux change is equal to one bit. In RLL, a flux change generates more than one bit. ), the world's largest franchisor of retail art and custom framing stores, was acquired today by an investment group led by longtime long·time adj. Having existed or persisted for a long time: a longtime friend; a longtime resident of Detroit. longtime Adjective Deck The Walls and The Great Frame Up franchisee Mark Ebling of St. Louis. FCI owns the brands Deck The Walls, The Great Frame Up, as well as Framing & Art Centre, the only national art and custom framing franchise in Canada. Together the brands form more than 300 franchise stores. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. Ebling, a franchisee of more than 18 years with both Deck The Walls and The Great Frame Up, has been named President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . John Jones is retiring but will remain on the Board of Directors and retain a minority ownership position. Connie Williams will remain as Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. . Steve Lowrey remains as head of Franchise Development and Philip Campbell will be the CFO See Chief Financial Officer. on an interim basis. The largest stockholder in the new ownership group is Bush O'Donnell, a St. Louis-based investment company. Jim O'Donnell, co-founder of Bush O'Donnell, has been named FCI's Chairman of the Board. Ebling said that FCI plans to establish a corporate office in St. Louis by late summer. There are currently 122 Deck The Walls franchises in 34 states, 152 The Great Frame Up franchises in 33 states and 51 Framing & Art Centre franchises throughout Canada. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Ebling, the acquisition provides FCI with additional resources to grow its franchise concepts and increase the level of franchisee support. Ebling said the new ownership group's initial focus will be in the areas of marketing and merchandising merchandising Element of marketing concerned especially with the sale of goods and services to customers. One aspect of merchandising is advertising, which aims to capture the interest of the segment of the population most likely to buy the product. as well as development of all three concepts. "Our immediate objective is to increase marketing and merchandising support for the franchisees," said Ebling. "We are also exploring new real estate programs designed to grow each concept. There is tremendous potential in all the brands," Ebling continued. "We want to provide our franchisees with the resources necessary to reach that potential." About Franchise Concepts Based in Houston, Franchise Concepts, Inc. owns Deck The Walls, Great Frame Up and Framing and Art Centre franchise companies, which represents more than 300 stores in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and Canada. More information on FCI is available at 800-443-3325 or www.franchiseconceptsinc.com. About Deck The Walls: Deck The Walls, founded in 1979, is one of the nation's leading retailers of art and custom framing with more than 120 locations in 34 states. The corporate Franchise Support Center is located in Houston at 800-527-1036 or www.deckthewalls.com. About The Great Frame Up: The Great Frame Up, founded in 1971, is one of the nation's leading art and custom framing retailers with 152 franchised stores in 33 states. The corporate Franchise Support Center is located in Houston at 800-553-7263 or www.thegreatframeup.com. About Framing & Art Centre Framing & Art Centre is the only national art and custom framing franchise in Canada with 51 franchised stores nationwide. The corporate Franchise Support Center is located in Burlington, Ontario Burlington (2006 population 164,415) is a city located in the Golden Horseshoe, across Lake Ontario and Burlington Bay harbour from Hamilton, in Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. , at 800-563-7263 or www.framingartcentre.com. Editors: For more information or to arrange interviews, contact Scott White at 972-490-0903 or scottwhite@bizcompr.com. |
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