Business Spotlight: Plus One

March 6 was a day Chris Hanner anticipated for more than a year.

The 15-year single-store franchisee with Batteries Plus Bulbs had targeted northwest Springfield for a sizable investment to open his second store. Hanner identified the North Kansas Expressway corridor and a specific retail building shared with a Dollar Tree store.

There was only one problem: Verizon Wireless occupied the 1,600-square-foot space.

So, he waited.

“It was a little bit frustrating waiting,” Hanner says. “But it was the right decision to wait for the right location.”

Opening day March 6 was preceded by a near all-nighter of stocking battery and lighting products, hanging signage and pricing hundreds of SKUs.

Working with Lee McLean III of Plaza Realty & Management Services Inc., Hanner signed a five-year lease with options up to 15 years at 2648 N. Kansas Expressway.

“I learned that Verizon was going to be moving across the street,” McLean says. “We did get it leased before it ever really hit the market.”

It’s a similar lease arrangement Hanner and his father signed to open their first Batteries Plus franchise store in April 1998 at 2216 S. Campbell Ave. Now the sole franchisee – Hanner bought out his father in 2006 – he renewed the south-side lease last year.

Humming along
Battling for position in a $30 billion U.S. battery industry, Hanner says the Hartland, Wis.-based franchisor with more than 600 stores provides stability but also is nimble enough to move with the opinions of its franchisees.

He would know. Hanner serves as franchise council advisory representative for six states and 62 franchisees throughout the Midwest.

“I’m the voice for the other franchisees. We meet with corporate when they have new initiatives or if there are any concerns among franchisees,” he says. “We’re what make the system work, us local owners. We have a voice in the direction we’re moving as a whole.”

Owned by Atlanta private equity firm Roark Capital Group, Hanner says the Batteries Plus system grosses more than $500 million in annual sales, and his store sales are in the top 10 percent nationwide. Though he declined to disclose annual revenue for his franchise, Even Acclivity LLC, he says the Campbell Avenue store was up 10 percent last year.

“That’s why we’re expanding,” he says, noting he’s hiring for his current 10-employee operation.

The move represents a roughly $250,000 investment, based on typical franchise store costs. According to BatteriesPlus.com, the initial franchise fee is $37,500 and monthly royalties are 5 percent of net revenue.

Declining to disclose representative clients, Hanner says his operation serves more than 200 commercial accounts, largely in the health care, construction and security industries within his franchise territory 30 miles around Springfield. The closest Batteries Plus franchisees are based in Jefferson City and Rogers, Ark.

Aha moment
A few years ago, the franchise system added a concentrated lighting line to join the $17 billion light bulb replacement market and last spring changed its name to Batteries Plus Bulbs.

Hanner says the Springfield store was an early adopter of the light bulb program after Batteries Plus piloted it in a handful of corporate stores.

Along with battery products for cars to cell phones, the store now carries halogen, CFL and LED light bulbs. The company has total inventory of some 45,000 products, distributed weekly to stores from a central warehouse in Wisconsin.

“We carry all those things, and we have to be the expert on them,” Hanner says, pointing to regular corporate training through the Quest online learning program.

Hanner holds monthly staff meetings to review the updated modules for battery and bulb products and to continually emphasize customer service basics.

With sales split 60 percent in retail and 40 percent in commercial, Hanner says lead-based batteries are most popular.

An automotive battery line featured in the stores is manufactured in Springfield. Five years ago, Batteries Plus agreed to stock the X2 Power line by NorthStar Battery.

“In almost 700 stores around the country, we’re carrying a battery that’s manufactured in Springfield,” Hanner says, noting his store’s X2 Power sales are naturally higher given the local awareness of NorthStar.

The high-end line with brass terminals and nonrecycyled lead retails for $200 to $350. Other car batteries start at $60.

The stores are covered in products. One wall is lined with batteries for laptops, camcorders, cameras and two-way radios. A shelving display features circular fluorescents, triple tube compacts and colored bulbs. And on the bottom of one shelf sits a mobile inverter with USB power fashioned as a coffee cup.

“We try to have what you need, when you need it,” Hanner says.