CHICAGO, Sept. 29, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Gary Tokarski of Downers Grove, IL and Larry Schulz of Homewood, IL, former football teammates for Homewood - Flossmoor High School on the city's south side, turned entrepreneurs and have been named Master Franchisees for Auto-Lab, a Detroit-based chain of diagnostic automotive service centers for Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana. The former collegiate football players and businessmen plan to open 59 Auto-Labs in the area in the next 10 years and their first in New Lenox, IL in early October 2005.
Frank Brandenberg, Auto-Lab managing director, announced the Master Franchisee agreement from the company's headquarters in Plymouth, MI, just west of Detroit.
Tokarski, a former running back at University of Miami and Schulz, a running back at the University of Illinois, will open their first unit at 1500 W. Lincoln Highway, New Lenox.
Schulz is also president of Schulz Motor Parts, an automotive parts supplier to independent auto repair shops in the Chicago area, and Tokarski previously served in marketing for Anheuser Busch, Proctor and Gamble, and SBC Communications.
"We offer consumers the latest in automotive service technology, to give them a technically driven assessment of their vehicle's service needs," Tokarski said. "We offer a 12-month or 12,000 mile warranty on their service."
"Auto-Lab provides complete, professional, technologically proficient and superior service -- in other words, the standard of auto care Chicago area drivers will be expecting and requiring for years to come," Schulz said. "Today's domestic and foreign automobiles contain 12 or more computer systems that monitor or control virtually every function within the vehicle, from fuel delivery and steering to engine cooling and theft prevention."
"We provide all of our franchise owners with full support, including site selection, comprehensive training, marketing support and ongoing operational and technical support," Tokarski said. "With Auto-Lab, you have the exceptional opportunity of getting in with a solid and growing company on the cusp of its national expansion."
Auto-Lab was founded in 1988 and acquired by Auto-Lab Franchise Management Corporation in 2004. There are currently 24 Auto-Labs in Michigan. Additional information is available at www.autolabusa.com.