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At Merlin, we believe that to be successful you need to branch out. But we also understand the importance of growing deep roots. Which is why we involve ourselves in three business activities--each one adding to the success of the other.
To begin with, in order to know the auto service business inside and out, from repairing the various auto systems to discussing service options with customers, we had to be in the business ourselves. Owning and running our own retail shops seemed the obvious thing to do.
Secondly, we franchise and license Merlin 200,000 Mile Shops to high-energy individuals who are committed to getting, growing and keeping customers. Our mission in this activity is to show our franchisees the way to independence and prosperity in a service business.
Thirdly, we're in the business of commercial real estate development. We research geographic locations and demographic targets for new stores. We seek out areas underserved by competitors, select the best sites in the industry, negotiate with property owners, and enter into long-term leases with build-to-suit landlords. We then sub-lease to our franchisees, saving them the time and sparing them the needed expertise it would take to accomplish this on their own.
Although our business activities are threefold, we focus singularly on the long term.
On the retail side, whether through our company-owned shops or franchised shops, we invest our energies in developing long term relationships with customers. Year after year, repeat business and referrals attest to the effectiveness of this chainwide philosophy.
And, as a franchisor, our efforts go well beyond opening new units. We also concentrate on making sure our shops are successful. A six week training course (one of the longest and most intensive in the industry), new state-of-the-art facilities, full-service franchise support, and well-researched locations assure that our franchisees have every opportunity to be prosperous in the long run.
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