Success Magazine has ranked Crown Trophy, the largest supplier of awards in America and the fastest growing chain in the awards industry, as one of America's most recognized franchise systems. Success Magazine has been doing this national survey of franchise companies for more than a decade. They have an independent marketing company investigate and evaluate the best-known and most respected franchise companies in America. Crown went from a rather unknown and unranked franchise in 1999 to one of the top franchise companies for the year 2000. The Hawthorne, NY based Crown Trophy story is truly a unique one. Started in a small store in Brooklyn, NY in 1978, Chuck Weisenfeld has built Crown into the most widely known and most respected chain in the Trophy and Awards industry. Chuck began casually franchising Crown Trophy centers in 1987. For twelve years he was content to simply add a handful of stores and grow in small increments, each year adding 4 to 8 stores per year. But in 1999 Chuck and his wife Elyse decided to grab hold of an industry that was booming but was being serviced by small independent, mom and pop and neighborhood trophy shops. Chuck states, "We decided now was the time to develop the full potential of Crown Trophy and build a nationally known and recognized franchise chain that would one day dominate the Trophy and Awards industry. There was a tremendous void in the industry and we saw an opportunity to fill a need and niche and make Crown Trophy a name that would by synonymous with great quality and exceptional pricing. Very simply, we wanted to change the way business is done in the awards industry, and we felt this could be best done by developing a significant number of Crown Trophy centers throughout America. It truly has been an 'American Dream' that is yet to be completed but one that thus far has exceeded everyone's expectations." Crown had some 60 franchise outlets in 1999 and expects to have 100 stores operating by the end of the year. While the growth has been significant, Crown has been very careful about the selection of franchise owners. Nick Gimpel, who joined Crown in April of 1999 as the Director of Franchising, oversees the Crown franchise program. Gimpel has 25 years in the franchise industry and is a perfect match for Chuck and Crown. Gimpel states, "We are going to grow significantly in the years ahead because we have a unique market, a very strong niche and a great foundation to build on. Since Crown began franchising in 1987, there has never been a franchise failure, a closed store, or litigation of any kind between the franchisee and franchisor. This is a unique record in the franchise industry and one I want to keep intact. We intend to attract very high quality people to run our franchise and to be very selective as to who joins the Crown franchise program. We will not jeopardize the integrity of the franchise and bring someone on board simply because they have the financial means to do so. We want to make our franchise process more of a recruiting process than a sales process. By keeping the quality of the owners at a very high level, we will insure the continued growth and development of the entire franchise system. We will not compromise our standards to sell a franchise. We intend to develop Crown into a 500 to 600 store franchise chain and we intend to continue to make it a very select fraternity of owners. We are in the sports-oriented business and we run our company in a team-like fashion so it is consistent with this philosophy that we bring good teammates to our championship team. The foundation of any successful franchise system is the franchise owner. Having a great concept with a strong market niche along with great owners is what has made Crown what it is today." Crown's past is quite a story and its future looks even brighter. By continuing to bring new products and expanding its line of exclusive (proprietary) products, Crown intends to take the industry to a different level. The years ahead are filled with great excitement, anticipation and promise. If you can judge a company by its past performance, Crown's future will be filled with much success. For franchise information visit Crown Trophy.com
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