Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Launches Dual-Franchising of Dollar & Thrifty Brands
First Dual Franchise Sold to Colorado Springs Franchisee
TULSA, Okla., June 18 -- Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. today announced that franchisees of both the Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental brands may dual-franchise in select smaller markets in which the company has decided not to operate corporately. This means that franchisees of either brand, in smaller metropolitan areas and under certain conditions, will be able to own and operate both brands in a single market.
Effective immediately, Dollar Rent A Car franchisees Bob and John Conine of JFC Automotive Rental Group, L.L.C. will begin operating a Thrifty Car Rental location in the terminal at Colorado Springs Airport, in addition to their separate Dollar facility. The Conines have been Dollar franchisees in Colorado Springs for five years.
Similar to Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group's own corporate stores, the dual-franchised stores will have the ability to share back-office functions, maintenance and fleet between the two brands. All Thrifty Car Rental and Dollar Rent A Car customer "touch points" will be kept separate, and served by brand-specific Thrifty and Dollar staff, offering consumers the great value they have come to expect.
"We are pleased to announce our first dual franchise with the Conines," said Don Himelfarb, DTG President and Chief Operating Officer - Sales, Marketing and Administration. "They have a longstanding history of being excellent Dollar Rent A Car operators, and will apply the same high standards to the Thrifty Car Rental brand. We expect the brands will complement each other nicely, and will help the Conines further solidify their strong presence in Colorado Springs."
Dual-franchising of the Dollar and Thrifty brands is also good for consumers, said Himelfarb. "By leveraging shared resources, it will allow both brands to maintain their value edge, which is always a win for consumers," he said.
From their Dollar location in the airport terminal, the Conines currently have a fleet of approximately 230 cars and 25 employees. With the purchase of the Thrifty Car Rental franchise, they expect to add an additional 175 cars and 10 employees. JFC Automotive Rental Group, L.L.C. has two other Dollar locations in Colorado Springs, including one inside The Broadmoor, as well as other locations in Durango, Montrose and Telluride. Thrifty, under previous ownership, had operated at 2540 S. Academy, near the airport, but will now operate inside the airport terminal.
About Dual-Franchising
Under the new program, franchisees of both the Thrifty and Dollar brands will be allowed to acquire the other brand in their own market, or a greenfield market that DTG will not be operating corporately. The opportunity usually fits into one of three categories:
-- Markets where neither brand is present;
-- Markets where only one brand is represented by a franchisee; or
-- Markets where there is a transfer of one brand to the other brand's
franchisee.
"The synergies we have identified in our new corporate growth strategy will now be available for many franchised operations," said Himelfarb. "By dual-franchising, we will enable our franchisees to drive more business in their market, while leveraging fixed costs. Owning both the Dollar and Thrifty brands will make our franchisees stronger, and provide more coverage where we are currently not operating."
The decision to dual-franchise comes approximately six months after DTG launched a new corporate structure and growth strategy of opportunistically acquiring larger franchised markets. As part of the strategy, DTG acquired the Thrifty Car Rental franchise in Hawaii in February, adding six new corporate stores. Another major move took place in February when DTG acquired the master franchise rights to the Dollar brand in Canada; the purchase brought 30 Dollar franchised locations under DTG management, adding to its 129 Thrifty corporate and franchised locations in Canada. Both brands are now managed by the newly named subsidiary, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Canada Inc. In addition, DTG initiated greenfield operations for Dollar in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and for Thrifty in Charlotte, North Carolina, Daytona Beach, Florida and Tucson, Arizona. DTG also acquired the Manchester, New Hampshire, franchise from the Thrifty franchise owner. Other acquisitions are expected to occur.
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has approximately 6,000 worldwide employees. Focused on being the low- cost provider in the car rental industry, the company's brands, Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental, serve value-conscious leisure travelers in more than 70 countries. With operations at most major airports, Dollar and Thrifty have over 800 corporate and franchised locations in the United States and Canada.
Some of the statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. believes such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and certain factors could cause results to differ materially from current expectations. These factors include: price and product competition; economic and competitive conditions in markets and countries where the companies' customers reside and where the companies and their franchisees operate; airline travel patterns; changes in capital availability or cost; costs and other terms related to the acquisition and disposition of automobiles; costs of conducting business and changes in structure or operations; and certain regulatory and environmental matters. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties, among others, materialize, actual results could vary from those estimated, anticipated or projected. Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results over time.
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