Novus, SuperGlass and Glass Doctor Rank High on Franchise 500® List
January 15, 2010

Novus Glass, SuperGlass and Glass Doctor all received high rankings on the recently released 2010 Franchise 500 list, published annually by Entrepreneur® magazine.

Savage, Minn.-based Novus Glass ranked at No. 89 on the list, up from No. 83 in 2009. Novus also ranked at No. 68 on the list of fastest-growing franchise, No. 24 on the low-cost franchise list, No. 24 on the home-based franchise list and NO. 73 on the list of America's top global franchises.

Novus was founded in 1972 and has been franchising since 1985. The company currently has 224 U.S. franchises, 165 Canadian, 1,645 foreign and nine company-owned.

Orlando, Fla.-based Superglass Windshield Repair was ranked No. 191-up nearly 100 spots from No. 289 in 2009.

In addition to its ranking on the main list, SuperGlass ranked No. 47 on the low-cost franchise list, No. 55 on the list of top home-based franchises, and No. 149 on the list of America's Top Global Franchises.

The company was founded in 1992, and began franchising in 1993. It has franchises all over the world, including South Africa, Spain, France and Germany. SuperGlass currently has 240 U.S. franchise, two Canadian and 18 foreign.

SuperGlass president David Casey points out that its surge in the rankings could be a benefit of layoffs in other industry sectors.

"As a company, other people's misfortunes are becoming our fortune," he says. "Some of those [who've been laid off] from other fields are bringing a lot of sharp talent to this business … I'm seeing a lot of quality personnel being infused into the windshield repair business."

He adds, "A lot of companies have moved backwards this year, and we've had some decent growth and remain stable."

Waco, Texas-based Glass Doctor rose 37 spots to No. 240 on the list, up from No. 277 in 2009. In addition, the company ranked No. 75 on the list of top home-based franchises and No. 179 on the list of America's top global franchises.

Glass Doctor was established in 1962 and is part of the Dwyer Group, which owns several other franchise companies. Glass Doctor began franchising in 1981. At the end of 2009, there were 165 U.S. Glass Doctor franchises and three Canadian.

The Franchise 500 list is created based on a number of factors, including financial strength and stability, growth rate and size of the company's franchising system, according to Entrpreneur. The publication also considers the number of years a company has been in business, the amount of time that has passed since it began franchising, start-up costs, litigation, termination percentages and whether the company offers financing to its franchisees.

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