BERKLEY, Mich. — The Huntington Company, an international franchisor for retail and restoration dry cleaners, has added Steve Lajiness and Josh Titler to its team as franchise development executives.
“These two highly experienced professionals have a substantial amount of franchise sales expertise that will enable them to contribute to the future growth of our brands, namely Martinizing and CRDN, the Certified Restoration Drycleaning Network,” says Wayne Wudyka, CEO of The Huntington Company.
Lajiness’ 30-year career includes management, training, operations and sales. Previously, he served as vice president of franchising at Service Brands International, handling Molly Maid, Mr. Handyman and ProTect Painters, following the same position at Electronic Restoration Services (ERS), where he helped launch ERS from conception.
Lajiness also was director of franchise development for BELFOR Franchise Group, launching the DUCTZ and HOODZ franchises, after three years as a business consultant with Molly Maid.
Titler joins The Huntington Company after a decade in business and franchise development for national brands that include ProTect Painters, Seniors Helping Seniors, DUCTZ and HOODZ. His experience includes recruiting, training, and franchise support encompassing sales, IT and operations.
“This team will be involved with franchise development for all of our brands going forward, creating opportunities for new owners and current Partners who are considering expansion, splitting off territory or selling their business,” Wudyka says. “Working with an expansive broker network, the team will target entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on our opportunities as well as those current business owners who see the value in converting to one of our brands.
“We now are in a solid position to strategically and systematically expand our global reach that already exceeds 750 locations.”
In November 2014, Huntington acquired Martinizing and Dry Cleaning Station to build upon its expansion of retail drycleaning brands, including the Pressed4Time door-to-door pick-up and delivery service added in May 2014, and 1-800-DryClean—the organization’s first retail-oriented drycleaning franchise—in 2012.
In between those acquisitions, the company launched bizziebox, a franchise concept that integrates mobile technology with a locker-based pick-up and delivery service to provide drycleaning and laundry services for tenants of office buildings and residential properties.
Wudyka launched CRDN in 2001, and it has become the largest franchise network of insurance textile restoration providers in the United States, according to Huntington.
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