Decorating Den Interiors | 9
double that number. Some of the growth is
organic, he said, and comes either by referral
from other franchisees or from employees of
franchisees who decide to strike out on their
own.
In addition, the company markets the
franchise opportunity in “places where peo-
ple who have a love for design and a flair for
color” would normally look, he said, includ-
ing design-centric magazines, social media
and appropriate trade publications.
The longer-range intent is to double the
size of the entire franchise roster over the
next three years, an optimism that’s fueled by
steady recovery from several years of nation-
wide fiscal uncertainty.
“We believe that the timing is right for us,”
Bugg said. “Over the last four or five years
with the economic climate and the housing
market, we were able to sustain better than
most competitors out there. Today there are
fewer competitors than there were five years
ago. There’s a tremendous amount of pent-
up demand with people who put the brakes
on projects four or five years ago, and now
that living room is four or five years more out
of date and more in need of re-do.
“We’ve seen a tremendous uptick in busi-
ness over the last 18 months and we’re look-
ing at this as an opportunity to grow our
market share while the larger competitors
and other competitors have a slower reac-
tion time to building stores and re-entering
the market.”
