TWO MEN AND A TRUCK Growing with New Strategy; Seeks Investors to Develop New Territories Across the Country

Growing up near TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®’s corporate headquarters in Lansing, Michigan, the brand’s characteristic hand-drawn logo has long been a common sight for Fred Schaard.

As the president of Rehmann Financial, a large Michigan-based CPA firm with more than $3.5 billion in assets, Schaard never really considered the opportunities that TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® might have in store. That is, until he had a chance encounter with the wife of one of his employees. Her name was Noelle Burak, and she was TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®’s franchise development manager. Familiar with Schaard and his extensive background in the financial planning field, Burak approached him with an opportunity to develop TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®’s Portland, Oregon market — an area with great growth potential for the national franchise company. Schaard quickly recognized the value in this important investment opportunity.

Portland is one of the last undeveloped major U.S. cities for TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, which currently has more than 339 locations throughout the U.S. And yet, despite the lack of locations in this popular Northwest city, Portland represented an incredibly lucrative territory for the brand — its market is rapidly growing with transplants and the community demographics align perfectly with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®’s target customer.

“We’ve been eyeing Portland as a top development market for TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® for a while now — it’s filled with immense opportunity. We just needed the right approach to ensure that our brand entered into this relatively untouched market with a strong force,” Burak said. “Fred has spent decades providing strategic growth counsel to a number of companies. We knew he’d be the perfect person to lead the charge.”

By 2015, Schaard had signed a three-unit deal with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, purchasing the rights to Portland Proper, West Portland, and Vancouver (just over the Washington border) territories. For TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, this represented the first time the brand had targeted an investor model to develop a territory.

With eight other private equity partners involved in the new venture, Schaard now serves as the majority owner and managing partner. Meanwhile, his 28-year-old son Joe Schaard, who was a smoke jumper in Portland and a former employee of TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, and his 26-year-old stepson Bernardo Mandujano, who worked at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®’s corporate office, will run the operations in Portland. Schaard’s first location opened in January 2016, and he hopes to open a second office May 2016.

“As an experienced financial planner, I always knew that franchising could be extremely lucrative if you invest in the right brand. TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®’s consistent growth, helpful corporate staff, and available support really showed me that this would be a wise investment,” Schaard said. “With so many ties to this brand between me, my son, and my stepson, purchasing these territories and having the opportunity to grow the brand in the Northwest is something we’re all extremely proud of.”

To learn more about TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, click here.