Screen-Repair Services Bank on Convenience

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Dodging bloodsucking mosquitoes in your living room is unpleasant enough, but carting screens to a Home DepotHD for repair is just as enervating. Screenmobile, a franchise with an easy solution for screen repair, is banking on an era of home ownership in which convenience is king.

The 25-year-old franchisor based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., is enjoying a renaissance thanks to a time-strapped society that's overwhelmed by big-box home improvement centers.

In addition to its existing 98 franchises, Screenmobile expects to sell about 24 franchises annually, potentially doubling its presence in only four years.

Modernizing A Good Idea

When an exasperated customer asked Monty Walker, who ran a screen repair service in his garage, to drive 40 minutes to pick up a door-sized screen, repair it in his shop and drive it back, Walker saved time by repairing the screen on-site. He immediately recognized the value of the concept and sold his first franchise in 1984.

The company grew slowly, adding between two and five franchises per year. In 1996, Walker passed the torch to his son Scott, and business began to change. "When you have younger eyes, you will take more risk and have more time to recover from that risk," says the younger Walker.

This June, Scott Walker teamed with Dick Rennick, a nationally recognized franchise consultant, and developed a growth strategy for Screenmobile that includes marketing the company as an add-on business for owners of existing home improvement businesses, such as handyman services and remodeling.