Tint World, with over 24 franchise locations says it expects to grow car audio by another 5 or 10 percent in same store sales.
Car audio currently represents about 30 percent of overall sales for the chain. CEO Charles Bonfiglio believes that will go up to about 35 to 40 percent as the newer stores tend to focus on car audio more heavily while the older stores focus more on window tinting and detailing.
“We’re getting better at marketing car audio,” said Bonfiglio.
The chain is also planning to step up installation training and open an in-house “school” for franchises. It already runs 4-week training sessions for window tinting and separate “schools” for detailing and vehicle wraps. “The next step would be car audio and fabrication,” said the CEO.
“Mobile Electronics is a growing segment for us. We want to increase it exponentially in the newer stores,” said Bonfiglio.
Of three key areas of selling car audio–marketing, sales training and installation–he said, “The marketing, we have a good handle on it. Sales, we’re really good on training. The hardest of the three is to really staff the stores with the right mobile electronics installers.”
That’s where the training course comes in.
“In the last five years we’ve been really promoting mobile electronics heavily. Typically when someone buys a new or used car, one of the most natural things they want to do is window tinting…. He sees our displays and sound rooms, and our detailing and reconditioning services brings the customer in month after month,” said Bonfiglio.
The chain has sold franchise licenses for 47 stores in the U.S. with 24 stores up and running and 12 to 15 scheduled to open this year. Total sales for the chain should reach about $10 million this year (in all categories, not just car audio).
Tint World is also branching into mixed use stores, where car washes, car dealerships and muffler shops can open a Tint World section in their store.
Source: CEoutlook
