Finalist
Retail & Wholesale
Mark Carr has continually set high standards of excellence for Christian Brothers Automotive Corp., and while at the helm of the organization for 28 years, he has led it to meet or exceed those standards every time.
When Carr opened Christian Brothers in 1982, he had limited exposure to automotive repair, yet customers embraced his simple concept of being served by the on-site owner of the business. Customers also appreciated and enjoyed the honest and professional atmosphere that Carr created, a factor that helped his company stand out from the competition.
Carr took the Christian Brothers concept and business model, and used it to launch a franchising platform in 1996. As he grew the company, he insisted that each new location be a new standalone, state-of-the-art facility. It was his instinct on customer trends that created the singular focus on high standards. His unwillingness to waver from the standards and practices that made Christian Brothers successful has yielded a 100 percent store success rate in 14 years of franchising. Today, Christian Brothers has more than 70 locations, with plans to be at 100 by the end of 2011 and 200 by 2016.
As a strong visionary and business leader, Carr provides an opportunity to create win-win situations between Christian Brothers and its franchisees. Within his innovative franchise model, the franchisee remits a royalty fee, as do franchisees of most companies. But the franchisee remits the royalty fee off of the net profit rather than the gross revenue, meaning that Christian Brothers is only being paid if the store unit is profitable. That creates an equitable relationship in which all parties benefit only if all parties are making money.
Today, Carr’s vision is to continue to build a national name for Christian Brothers, which he’ll do by continuing to recruit high-caliber franchisees and develop them into world-class entrepreneurs in their communities.
How to reach: Christian Brother Automotive Corp., (281) 870-8900 or www.cbac.com
