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Home Franchise Concepts and its Fast-growing Retail Brands Look to “Heart & Home” in 2018

By: Home Franchise Concepts, Inc. |  28 Shares     176 Reads

Budget Blinds, Tailored Living and Concrete Craft expand HFC’s commitment to caring and giving back.

HFC announces new 2018 partnerships with Working Wardrobes, Home for our Troops and Wounded Warriors Canada

March 20, 2018 // Franchising.com // ORANGE, Calif. - Home Franchise Concepts (HFC), parent company of three home-related brands - Budget Blinds®, Tailored Living® and Concrete Craft® - has launched its Heart & Home initiative, a long-term commitment to caring and giving-back to transform the lives of individuals through ongoing national partnerships and local, community efforts.

Heart & Home is an extension of HFC’s long involvement in veteran causes and other nonprofit groups. HFC has renewed its partnership with Home for our Troops (HFOT), to which it has donated nearly $1 million in products, services and cash gifts through a five-year alliance that began in 2014. Beyond this corporate support, the company has inspired its franchise owners to donate to HFOT at the local level - with some franchisees contributing as much as $45,000 in a single year.

The company also renewed its alliance with Wounded Warriors Canada to help even more veterans and others in need realize their dreams of obtaining work, career advancement, homeownership and the ability to transition to civilian life after military service.

“Probably the most valuable lesson I’ve learned is the importance of following your moral compass and doing right by others,” said Shirin Behzadi, CEO of Home Franchise Concepts.

According to Behzadi, HFC and its family of brands were able to meet aggressive growth goals in 2017 precisely because the brands care about their customers, franchisees, employees and communities. “We can never forget there is a very direct relationship between doing good and doing well.”

HFC successfully reached its 2017 goals of 2.6 million Budget Blinds window-covering installations for the year (and 25 million installations since Budget Blinds’ founding year of 1992) at a record pace of 50,000 per week. The brand operates with more than 1,140 franchise territories across 10,000 cities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

From its inception through the end of 2017, Tailored Living organized more than 245,000 lives and Concrete Craft installed more than 3 million square feet of decorative concrete.

Behzadi is now boldly ushering HFC into its next chapter with Heart & Home. “We will impact 300,000 families in 2018 by transforming homes and giving families a sense of calm, dignity and pride.”

“Our business is based in products that make a house a home. Our corporate and franchise cultures are centered on caring and making our communities vibrant and full of hope. HFC employees are given time to volunteer, and that is a perk that brings both smiles and substance. Our people prove it: there really is no place like HFC.”

At this year’s Budget Blinds, Tailored Living and Concrete Craft international conventions, Behzadi announced the first six recipients of HFC’s Heart & Home Award, given to franchisees who best embody HFC’s caring and give-back spirit.

• Priscilla Glidewell of Stayton, Ore. (Budget Blinds)
• James and Elaine Trotter of Tampa, Fla. (Budget Blinds)
• Tammy Conner of Terra Haute, Ind. (Budget Blinds)
• Todd and Juliana Carter of Herndon, Va. (Tailored Living)
• Mark Flood of Oakville, Ontario, Canada (Tailored Living)
• Chuck Yates of Knoxville, Tenn. (Concrete Craft)

More Give-Back Efforts

HFC also launched a new effort with Working Wardrobes called Give Me $5, a fundraising program that provides veterans and others looking for work with career training, job placement assistance, professional wardrobe services and spending money to buy gas and public transportation to get to job training, workshops and interviews.

Established in 1990, Working Wardrobes has helped more than 95,000 men, women, young adults and veterans overcome challenges so they can re-enter the workforce.

On Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11, 2017, HFC awarded U.S. Marine Corps veteran Sohel Gilani with a Concrete Craft franchise plus two-weeks training and $80,000 in operating capital. The new business package, valued at more than $300,000, represented the culmination of HFC’s “There’s No Place Like Home Veteran Partnership and Giveaway.”

Said Gilani: “Throughout my military service, I witnessed things that no one should ever have to see. It was a constant internal struggle for me and, honestly, I felt as through my faith in humanity was slipping away. But winning this HFC program has restored my faith in humanity and reaffirmed what I have always known to be true. When you stay true to yourself, the kindness of others will prevail.”

Other 2017 Successes

Beyond reaching sales and franchisee goals, HFC celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2017 and announced the spring 2018 completion of the HFC Home Office and Franchise Support Center, a new, 38,094-square-foot headquarters facility in Irvine, Calif., featuring management offices, interactive product displays, and state-of-the-art training, education and support facilities for the growing HFC franchisee family.

Also, as part of its anniversary, HFC organized a series of volunteer, “Give-Back” days for HFC staff on (or near) the 25th of every month. Partnering organizations included Working Wardrobes, Orangewood Children & Family Center, Home For Our Troops, Second Harvest Food Bank and Olive Crest, an organization to combat child abuse and preserve the family.

On the marketing front, HFC unveiled a new brand look-and-feel and website, and significantly expanded its senior marketing expertise with the addition of Gayle Milling, a 25-year brand and franchise marketing expert, as HFC CMO, and Adele Nasr as Budget Blinds VP of digital marketing.

Continuing on the staff-development front, Behzadi was voted one of 2017’s Most Influential Business Leaders by the Orange County Business Journal, Milling was appointed to the Forbes Communications Council and Dan Tafoya, an HFC executive VP, was named a Woodworking Network Wood Industry Market Leader.

Home Franchise Concepts’ brands continue to climb the prestigious Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Franchise 500” ranking. In the most recent ranking for 2018, Budget Blinds and Tailored Living placed #23 and #131 overall, respectively, and #7 and #111 as top franchise choices among Veterans. Budget Blinds was also ranked #87 and #88 in the “Top Brands” and “Fastest-growing Brands” categories. Military Times ranked Budget Blinds #2 and Tailored Living #3 for Best Franchises 2018.

About Home Franchise Concepts

Home Franchise Concepts (HFC) is the top-selling family of direct-to-consumer brands in the home-related goods and services space, one of the world’s largest franchise businesses and a recognized leader in franchisee-franchisor relationships. HFC’s three brands including Budget Blinds®, Tailored Living® and Concrete Craft® are consistently rated at the top of their categories and supported by nearly 1,400 franchise territories in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Media Contacts:

Bob Ochsner
Sophia’s Choice PR
949-233-0984

Sophia Marsh-Ochsner
Sophia’s Choice PR
818-400-8185

SOURCE Home Franchise Concepts

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