The FutureVu Brands subsidiary CoolVu launched a new franchise opportunity to promote glass and surface solutions in January 2022. Since then, the company has hosted six training classes at its headquarters in Marietta Ga., and opened 51 territories across the United States. I had the chance to attend and observe 2023’s first training class this week, just a few miles from my hometown of Roswell, Ga.

Far and Wide

FutureVu Brands CEO Jeff Franson instructs new franchisees.

Georgia, Minnesota, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, Tennessee, North Carolina, Arkansas, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama and New York have franchise locations up and running.

CoolVu Franchise Concepts president Mike Herrera’s career in franchising spans 30 years and includes leadership, marketing, sales and business development positions. He says, “We had a target for our first 12 months of operation. Our plan was to [create] no less than 35 new territories, and we accomplished that easily in the first 12 months.”

CoolVu franchisees operate in protected territories, supported by sales and marketing programs. The company says this opportunity empowers franchisees to establish their businesses while relying on corporate support to help fulfill supply and inventory demands.

The company has eight training classes slotted for 2023 to support its franchisees. Ten territories were represented at the first training session of the year.

“We try to balance it between business coaching, marketing and technical sales and installation,” says FutureVu Brands CEO Jeff Franson. “Those are three broad spectrums we try to touch on. You can spend four days on each of those, but we do our best to balance those three buckets across the four days of training we have here—classroom and hands-on.”

Hands-on Training

CoolVu has eight training classes slotted for 2023 to support its franchisees.

“We typically will break into working sessions in the afternoon,” Franson adds. “This Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, our trainees and trainers will train five to six hours per day. It starts with an intro to window film installation on the first day, commercial graphics on Wednesday and then architectural finishes on Thursday. They build upon themselves, with window film being the easiest of the three buckets to pick up fastest.”

I also had the chance to chat with Wellerson Bedin, CoolVu’s Southeast regional support director, who summed up the power of the initiative nicely.

“The most gratifying part of this program is seeing someone with no experience in the window film business become a professional window film retailer where they can sell the film, install the film and start managing projects.”

I enjoyed driving to CoolVu’s headquarters to cover its growing franchise network. Just a 20 minute drive from my home in Roswell, Ga., the experience reminded me that the world of window film is just around the corner.

Editor’s Note: Is your dealer or supplier located near the Roswell, Ga., area? I would be thrilled to visit your company. Please reach out to me at ccollier@glass.com for potential coverage.