Wheelchair Getaways Inc.

Founded: 1988 Franchising since: 1989
In 1921 the Pennsylvania-based Van Artsdalen Express was a successful freight company. By 1972, it had been restructured to operate school buses instead of trucks. While working for the company, J. Edward Van Artsdalen noticed that people using wheelchairs were some of the most poorly served individuals in the transportation market. Motivated by this discovery, Van Artsdalen founded Wheelchair Getaways Inc. in 1988. The company rents wheelchair-accessible vans to individuals and groups. The company began franchising in 1989 and was purchased by J. Stewart and Jean Gatewood in 1994. Wheelchair Getaways is now based in Versailles, Kentucky and owned by Richard Gatewood and Moon Ko.

P.O. Box 5591 Lynnwood, WA 98046

Phone: (800)536-5518

Franchisor has 5 employee(s); 2 employee(s) in franchise department.

Franchise Growth

Year	U.S. Franchises	Canadian Franchises	Foreign Franchises	Company Owned
2007	47	0	0	3
2006	44	0	0	2
2005	45	0	0	2

Where Seeking Franchisees
In the U.S. Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North carolina, North dakota, New hampshire, Nevada, New york, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode island, South carolina, South dakota, Tennessee, Texas, United states, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, West virginia, Wyoming

Exclusive territories available.
Territory size: 500,000+ population

Total investment: $40K-112K Franchise fee: $25K

Ongoing royalty fee: $550/van/yr. Term of agreement: 10 years, renewable

Type of Financing Available

	In-House	Third Party
Franchise Fee	Yes	No
Startup Costs	No	No
Equipment	No	Yes
Inventory	No	Yes
Accounts Receivable	No	No
Payroll	No	No

Qualifications
Net worth requirement: $250K
Cash liquidity requirement: $45K
Business Experience:

• Industry experience
• General business experience
• Marketing skills

Operations

• Franchise can be run from home
• 25% of all franchisees own more than one unit
• Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 3
• Absentee ownership of franchise is allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

Training

• At existing franchise location : 2 days

Ongoing Support

• Newsletter
• Meetings
• Toll-free phone line
• Internet
• Field operations/evaluations
• Purchasing cooperatives

Marketing Support

• Co-op advertising
• Ad slicks
• National media
• Regional advertising