ShelfGenie - Thursday Jan. 22 on BlogTalk Radio

ShelfGenie Franchise Opportunity to appear on Franchise Interviews Weekly Radio Show on BlogTalkRadio Thursday, January 22, at 10AM EST.

Allan Young's successful, but short-lived, career as a small-business consultant in Richmond, Virginia was sidetracked in 2005 when he was deployed to the Middle East as an operations officer with the U.S. Army Reserve.

Young handed off some of his accounts to other consultants and returned six months later “thinking I wouldn't have any clients and would have to completely restart my business.”

One company waited. Launched out of a garage in 2000, the company designed, built and manufactured high-quality, custom Glide-Out shelving that fit existing cabinetry in kitchens, bathrooms and elsewhere throughout the home, gliding in and out with the touch of a finger and saving homeowners thousands on expensive remodeling while making their shelving more functional and easy to use.

The mother-son ownership team - Joyce Burgess and Andrew Kerwin - wanted Young to develop a growth plan and he implemented a dealership model for the business that Kerwin had launched after moving to Richmond from California , where he had worked in the shelf conversion industry and realized its potential. Within a year the company had 30 dealers throughout the country, all recruited by Young. What he saw in the industry was something he had witnessed before.

“I always viewed the closet industry as a very close cousin to ours. Looking at their history has enabled to make smarter, more strategic decisions,” Young said. “Ten to 15 years ago, the closet industry was where we were a couple of years ago. It was very fragmented and people never thought it would make it. Now you can find over 10 large, successful closet organization companies in every major market in the country.”

In what can only be described as a whirlwind, the 37-year-old Young, along with business partner and franchising veteran Barry Falcon, 56, has taken the foundation that Burgess and Kerwin established with their original concept and founded ShelfGenie Franchise Systems, the nation's only franchised provider of custom-built shelving solutions that glide in and out.

Franchising efforts were launched in May 2008. The company expects to grant two franchises a month through 2008 and expects to have 125 to 150 franchise owners by the end of 2010. ShelfGenie can be operated as a home-based business and the company is targeting major markets throughout the Northeast, Florida , Texas and California for initial growth.

ShelfGenie has planned and perfected a smooth, simple-to-operate business model.

Tune in on Thursday, January 22 at 10AM EST to find out more.

You can hear the live and recorded shows by going to FranchiseInterviews.com or BlogTalkRadio.com/Franchise-Interviews