Cartridge World Hires New CEO

EMERYVILLE, Calif. (Blue MauMau) – Cartridge World, a chain of ink and toner refilling franchises, announced last week the appointment of Tom Fricke as chief executive officer to replace Burt Yarkin, who resigned in January. In addition to the changing of the guards of the firm's CEO, John Dring stepped down from his position as chief operating officer, North America in June.

Australian-based Wolseley Private Equity purchased controlling interest in Cartridge World in August of last year. After Yarkin's resignation, Peter Hasko, managing director of Wolseley and chairman of Cartridge World, immediately filled in as interim CEO.

Steve Yeffa, president of Cartridge World Americas, who served as chief financial officer under Yarkin and Dring, observes, "Clearly the company had wished that it could have worked out with the both of them, frankly."

High growth

Cartridge World has seen explosive growth. Yeffa observes, "Cartridge World has over 650 units right now in the United States. It was probably about 550 last year."

That's close to 20% growth in total franchises over the past year, small compared to early start-up franchisors in a list like Franchise Times' Fast 55 of the 55 fastest-growing franchises of 5 years or under. Such firms can experience 600% growth or more. However, Entrepreneur magazine in 2008 ranks Cartridge World as the 30th fastest growing franchise chain from their list of 500. A press release from the firm in 2006 also stressed a growth in franchise units, stating, "Cartridge World, the world’s fastest growing ink refilling retailer."

Yeffa comments about this fast growth. He observes, "After having been one of the fastest growing franchises in U.S. history, the notion of having 1,650 stores open around the world is a daunting prospect.”

The firm's previous leaders brought to the organization a strong franchise sales background. With five years behind him as director of franchising at Gymboree, Yarkin helped launch the American operation in 2003 of then Australia-based Cartridge World. Yarkin remains a Cartridge World master franchise owner for Northern California. Dring came to Cartridge World from his position as senior director of franchise development and business administration for the UPS Stores (Mail Boxes Etc.) from 1995 - 2004.

Yeffa says, "Burt and John's leadership of this company from its infancy took us to a certain level and they are to be commended and admired for that."

About the new CEO

Fricke, who most recently served as an executive for The Home Depot, will work closely with Cartridge World's franchisees to intimately align the company with its consumers, escalate the company's global standing through the development of a global management team and grow the brand organically by cultivating markets in which Cartridge World has a strong presence.

Peter Hasko, executive chairman of Cartridge World, said at the announcement, "His [Tom Fricke's] extensive experience with numerous Fortune 500 companies makes him the ideal choice to develop and lead our next strategic initiative to complement the brand's continued growth, and a major step towards solidifying our position as the leader in the refilling industry."

Fricke attended the Naval Academy and served in the Navy for five years and later graduated with an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Fricke has worked with such companies as PepsiCo, Frito-Lay, Giant Eagle Supermarkets and The Home Depot, as well as served as a consultant for Bain & Company.

Fricke is expected to help in the next phase of Cartridge World's strategic growth. "Cartridge World is the perfect opportunity to work with a proven brand and enhance consumer knowledge of our outstanding products, while promoting the company's dedication to the environment," Fricke said. "We provide customers with superior service and an alternative to help them reduce their impact on the millions of cartridges that end up in landfills each year."

Next steps

Yeffa emphasizes, "Cartridge World continues to be the number one company in our space as far as remanufacturing and refilling cartridges." But he stresses that there are not plans for an initial public offering of the company nor does the company have an exit strategy. He declares that the major shareholder, Wolesley, "is planning to be around for a while."

The next stage of the company is to focus on better reaching customers and operational excellence. “The next stage is to make sure that our infrastructure systems and support are there to help our franchisees grow to their maximum potential," states Yeffa. "We want to ensure that our business model is universally accepted by consumers, is being followed. We want to deliver a high-quality product meeting customers' needs from all locations, whether it is a franchise in San Francisco or Mumbai, India.”

With over three decades of creating franchise systems and educating franchise buyers, Craig Slavin, president of Franchise Architects and Franchise Navigator, understands what is being said. The company is evolving into a new management phase. Slavin observes, “I find it interesting and intriguing that Cartridge World has reached outside the franchise arena for their new CEO. It appears as if Fricke's background gives him a deep understanding of the issues related to market penetration and alignment with consumer needs and not franchise sales. I have found that any company that sells franchises as fast as Cartridge World has in the past is clearly focused on the sale of franchises wherever it might take them, instead of concentric circles and market penetration goals. Friske's task appears to be focused on galvanizing the brand and increasing market penetration in strong Cartridge World's markets, which would be welcome news to all current franchise owners.”

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Related reading:

Podcast: Interview with Burt Yarkin, CEO of Cartridgeworld