Tom Coba has worked with some of the most recognizable names in the franchising industry—Subway, Dunkin Donuts, ServiceMaster and McDonalds. The franchising veteran is now adding dry cleaning to the mix as he joins Lapels Dry Cleaning, an innovative, environmentally friendly dry cleaning company, as a franchise advisor.
In working with Lapels Dry Cleaning, Coba will help the Hanover, MA-based franchisor: Develop short-, mid- and long-term growth plans and create a strategic focus to handle growth and the infrastructure to handle that growth; create a marketing strategy that defines the market research to define best growth markets; and form a franchisee council.
“The Lapels business model has been very well received in the franchise world. People are seeing the strength of this business model and we are now starting to work with some very large operators from other industries. While the growth is exciting we wanted to bring Tom Coba on to help us in meeting the demands on our corporate structure and stay ahead of the growth,” said Kevin Dubois, CEO of Lapels Dry Cleaning. “Working with Tom has brought decades of experience in going through this exact growth trajectory.”
Coba’s resume as a franchise executive includes a tenure as chief operating officer of 37,000 Subway restaurants in 99 countries. He was president of the Franchise Services Group of the ServiceMaster Company where he led five of their brands. Coba also served as vice president of Dunkin’ Donuts brands and has worked with such global brands as Baskin Robbins and McDonald’s.
“Lapels Dry Cleaning has already set itself apart with its offering of an environmentally friendlier way of dry cleaning clothes and its first-rate customer service and offerings,” said Coba. “In joining Kevin and the rest of the Lapels team, we are looking to build on a very strong foundation, one that earned Lapels the number one franchise in the Dry Cleaning and Delivery Services category for Entrepreneur’s Annual “Franchise 500” for 2016—and take it to the next level.”
