Franchise

Liberty Tax Service Corporate Office

Liberty Tax Service was founded in 1997 in Canada by John Hewitt, co-founder of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service.

Liberty Tax is a franchised chain of tax preparation services known for using guerrilla advertising in the form of the State of Liberty, Uncle Sam, and calculators to attract attention.

In 2009, Liberty Tax was ordered to pay $1.3 million for engaging in unfair business practices related to its refund anticipation loans. It later settled with the Department of Justice over allegations that its franchisee locations inflated some customer tax returns between 2013 and 2018.

As of 2021, Liberty Tax Service is the third-largest institutional tax preparation service provider in the United States and second-largest in Canada.

In August 2022, Liberty Tax sued the creators of the popular Netflix series Better Call Saul saying that the series stole not only their name but the infamous blow-up statue of liberty that is featured in the series.

In December 2022, the company is again being sued by Washington, D. C.’s attorney general for a misleading and deceptive incentive program.

Liberty Tax Service maintains a corporate office in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Extended Stay America Corporate Office

Extended Stay America was founded in 1997 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The company operates an economy apartment chain with 760 apartment buildings/hotels. Of these, approximately 73 of these are franchises.

The company went public on the NASDAQ in 2013 under the ticker symbol STAY but was removed in 2021 after being acquired by Blackstone Real Estate and the Starwood Capital Group.

Extended Stay America is one of the top long-term hotel companies in the US, with more than 85,000 rooms.

Despite the coronavirus, the chain continues to expand, announcing in November 2022 that a new premier Extended Stay hotel was being built in Duncan, South Carolina.

In September 2022, the company announced that it would partner with The American Cancer Society and offer free rooms or reduced rates in all locations for those receiving cancer treatment and living more than 40 miles from a treatment center.

Extended Stay America maintains a corporate office in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Neighborly Corporate Office

Don Dwyer founded Neighborly in 1981 in New York, New York. Dwyer believed that franchising was the best way for business people to not only get started but to build their companies.

Neighborly is a home services company that has more than 5,000 home service companies, including Molly Maids, Roto-Rooter, and 5-Star Painting.

Formerly called The Dwyer Group, the company changed its name in 2018 to Neighborly, Inc.

Today the company has more than 5,000 franchises, making it the largest franchised operator in the US.

In 2022, Inc. named Neighborly one of the fastest-growing companies for the 4th consecutive year.

In August 2022, Neighborly acquired Lawn Pride, bringing the total number of franchised companies to 30.

Neighborly maintains a corporate office in Waco, Texas.

Aspen Dental Corporate Office

Aspen Dental was founded by Robert Fontana in 1994. By 1997, Aspen Dental had 50 locations after merging with East Coast Dental.

By 2007, the company had 106 offices in 10 states.

In 2010, the company was acquired by Leonard Green and Partners for $500 million.

Aspen Dental is an American dental support organization, a dental practice management corporation that provides business support and administrative services in the US.

After a state probe in 2010, Aspen settled with state consumer protection authorities in Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts and agreed to pay reimbursements to former patients and financial contributions to consumer protection probes in those states without admitting fault or wrongdoing.

In July 2022, investment firm Marcus and Millichap negotiated the sale of an Aspen Dental office, along with MD Now Urgent Care in Cape Coral, Florida.

In June 2022, Aspen Dental gave away free services to veterans in honor of their service.

Aspen Dental maintains a corporate office in East Syracuse, New York.

George Webb Restaurants Corporate Office

George Webb founded his first lunch counter on the east side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The entire family worked at the business, with George, his wife Evelyn, and their three sons, Jim, Tom and Bob, all performing various tasks in the restaurant.

George’s son Jim suggested to his father that he should take over one of the restaurant locations in 1953. George agreed, making Jim’s location the first franchise. Other franchises followed in 1957.

Today, the company has 31 locations, all of them in Wisconsin.

The company is famous for serving its entire menu any time of the day or night. George Webb is also known for having two clocks in each location. Stories vary as to why this is with some people saying that Webb installed one clock at an angle so those who were waiting on the subway could see the time. Others say that, at one time, being open 24 hours a day was illegal so Webb set these two clocks side by side, with one of them running one minute slower than the other.

In February 2022, a restaurant employee was shot in the face by 4 women who were angry over a food order.

Because of George Webb’s policy of staying open 24 hours a day, combined with the restaurants’ reasonably low prices on food and drink, the chain has become a notorious refuge for homeless adults and juveniles. George Webb Restaurants have displayed a “No Loitering” sign in every restaurant and placed a two-dollar minimum per person and a 20-minute time limit for a visit, although this rule is not strictly enforced.

George Webb Restaurants maintains a corporate office in Waukesha, Wisconsin.