City Wide Facility Solutions Wins Franchise Times Zor Award as Top Brand to Buy

Winner: City Wide facility solutions

Finalists: Office Pride and Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning

A growing company in the commercial cleaning segment, City Wide Facility Solutions came out on top in the Zor Awards Office Space category. Gross sales at franchise locations ranged from $441,131 to an eye-popping $30.4 million in 2021, with an average unit volume of $6.7 million and illustrating a wide range in location performance.

Standing out in our research is the company’s detailed Item 19, which provides breakdowns by quartile of monthly gross sales and net royalties paid for 2020 and 2021. (City Wide has a royalty fee structure of 5 percent of gross sales or a minimum fee based on months in operation, whichever is greater.) Other charts offer labor cost information, giving prospective franchisees a more complete financial picture.

For California franchisee Michael Castillo, president of Inland Empire of City Wide, support from corporate has been a big factor in his success. Operating since 2014 and with a territory that includes Riverside and San Bernardino, Castillo said revenue grew 33 percent in 2022, to $8 million. Before City Wide, he worked as a broker and trader, experiencing economic ups and downs.

“My travels took me from the East Coast to the West Coast and down to Latin America, but when I went to Kansas City it was a good fuzzy feeling,” said Castillo of visiting City Wide’s headquarters. “I walked away with the feeling that I was getting involved with a group of folks that really want me to win.”

Participation in the company’s yearly franchise conference is one way to win, as Castillo said he’s able to learn best practices from corporate and other franchisees. Those franchisees, new and old, are a consistent resource if he has questions or needs advice.

Castillo faced some challenges in his first years as a franchisee. Back then, the company was smaller, and being out in California with a broad territory was “isolating.” Many of his early years were focused on searching for customers and building his client base. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic.

After the initial shutdowns in 2020, demand from businesses and corporate offices for services such as electrostatic sanitation, facility disinfecting and general maintenance skyrocketed.

“The entire time, I’m thinking to myself, ‘OK, this isn’t going to be forever, so how are we going to replace that?’” said Castillo.

Franchisee Jeff Smith, who operates the Indianapolis

territory, also saw the COVID spike and said he’s never seen a boom quite like it.

“It was a huge accelerator,” said Smith. “Cleaning went nuts because everybody had to have their building cleaned with electrostatic spraying.”

Over the last year, his sales remained strong, with 40 percent growth to more than $40 million. A franchisee for more than a decade, Smith said he’s seen plenty of change at the company but the support remained consistent as his business matured and grew.

“I’ve met some of the best people and been around some of the best leaders,” he said. “When you have that bond, it’s powerful.”

Smith opened a second location, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, last year with his general manager, Costa Demou. The “scalability” of a single location made this an unusual move for a City Wide franchisee, as most continue to expand service in their territory instead of opening additional locations. The stars aligned for Smith and Demou, however, with an available territory, their own determination and assistance from corporate.

No franchise is perfect, though, and each franchisee had his own take. For Castillo, lagging technology is an issue. While his business grew, he found that “you never really think about what needs to grow with it,” and he sees an opportunity for the franchisor to improve its tech offerings for franchisees.

Smith said while the scalability of the model can mean rapid growth, it can be a double-edged sword if a franchisee isn’t prepared. As he put it, “You can easily lose alignment” when growing quickly, whether that’s in tech, staffing or operations.

Smith credited his competitive streak and curiosity as attributes that helped him become a top franchisee and overcome

challenges. Always looking to win, learn from mistakes and tap into the expertise of leaders, he studied what made other businesses work down to the bare bones.

Castillo, meanwhile, called out an adjustment made early on, when one of his mistakes was deviating from the formula handed to him by corporate. After a conversation with CEO Jeff Oddo, he reevaluated and began closely following the training guide.

“My office is definitely one that sticks to the recipes,” he said. “I see us as the ducklings behind the mama taking them down to the pond.”

City Wide

Positives

• Strong franchisee support and communication from corporate.
• Franchisees don’t need dozens of locations to succeed. Instead, they can break into the market with one location and later expand the territory size.

Use Caution

• While there was a spike in demand during the height of the pandemic, franchisees shouldn’t expect those sales levels to last forever. Adapting to the post-COVID world will be a must for existing and prospective owners.

Founded in 1961 by Frank Oddo, janitorial and facility maintenance company City Wide began franchising in 2001. Frank’s son, Jeff, now leads the company. While there are just 95 locations, each location covers a broad territory.