Christian Brothers Automotive Introduces New Development Tactic to Expand in Phoenix

Christian Brothers Automotive puts a lot of care into every single franchise location they open. After all, finding the perfect spot can make all the difference. But such due diligence takes time, and from negotiating the price of land to custom-building each unit, the entire site selection and construction process can take up to two years.

As Christian Brothers Automotive looks to add two additional franchises throughout the Phoenix area, they’re introducing an innovative tactic to get these new locations up and running a little quicker—they’re purchasing real estate before a franchisee signs on in order to speed up the development timeline.

For years, the process to getting a franchise open for business went like this: first came demographic research, where franchisees spend one to five days studying the local population to see where potential customers are clustered. Next, came the site tour and aerial tour—these two steps could take up to three months combined, and involved scouting out the best possible target areas for high traffic counts, easy access and high visibility. After that, the letter of intent negotiations begin for the preferred site approved by the franchisee—another 60 to 90 days.

Lease negotiations can take an additional 180 days, and, lastly, the permitting and building phase can take anywhere from 90 days to one year.

• Demographic research: 1 to 5 days
• Site tour and aerial tour: up to 3 months
• Letter of intent negotiations: 60 to 90 days
• Lease negotiations: 180 days
• Permitting and building phase: 90 days to 1 year

“Christian Brothers Automotive works hard to select the best site for franchise businesses, negotiates carefully for the price of land in order to hold down costs for our brand and our franchisees, and then custom-builds gorgeous buildings that make an excellent first impression on customers.” said Josh Wall, Vice President of Franchising and Strategic Development for Christian Brothers Automotive.

“We don’t want to put a franchisee in an inferior location, but we also don’t want them to lose out up to two years of profit. We realized that for some areas we needed to change the way we approach development to make it a win-win situation for everyone.”

As the brand targets Phoenix for development in the next year, Wall believes that that this new approach will show prospective franchisees how committed Christian Brothers is to developing in this important market.

“By being proactive and taking care of the long site selection and purchasing process ahead of time, we’re sending the message that Christian Brothers Automotive has our franchisees’ best interests in mind. We want to develop a strong presence in the Phoenix area, and we want to do everything we can to make sure they can be as successful as possible from the very beginning. This is an important step forward for the Phoenix market,” Wall said.