Batteries Plus Franchisee to Open Second Area Location
By Kevin Tampone, Journal Staff

CAMILLUS - After just a year in business, the local franchisee for Batteries Plus is opening a second store in Camillus.

Thomas Ruhlman opened his 2,400-square-foot store on Erie Boulevard in DeWitt in September 2006. He will open a second location, a 1,550-square-foot shop at 5310 W. Genesee St. in Camillus, in November.

Ruhlman says he chose Camillus for the new store because its location to the west of DeWitt will allow him to cover much of Onondaga County. It's also close enough that the stores will benefit from joint marketing, he adds.

The staff will probably grow from its current total of five to seven or eight, says David Ferguson, store manager.

Batteries Plus sells 12,000 different types of batteries, including ones used in cell phones, cordless phones, golf carts, hearing aids, cars, and motorcycles.

When he signed on with Batteries Plus, Ruhlman agreed to open additional stores in exchange for keeping exclusive rights to the Syracuse market. He has also now agreed to take on the Rochester market and plans to open three stores there in the next few years.

Batteries Plus has given him exclusive rights in Rochester as well.

Ruhlman aims to open the first Rochester-area store by April 2008. The first location will probably in Henrietta with shops in Greece and Victor or Webster to follow, he says.

"There's [Batteries Plus] stores out there that are doing a million dollars a year [in sales]," Ruhlman says. "I'll get there. Sooner rather than later."

Ruhlman expects $300,000 in sales for 2007.

Before launching his own business, he was a general manager and vice president at Hand Held Products in Skaneateles. The company, a spin-off of Welch Allyn, develops and manufactures bar-code scanners and other hand-held computing devices.

Ruhlman says one reason he chose Batteries Plus for his own venture was because of his experience with batteries in Hand Held's products. Another reason was its split business model.

Companywide, about half of the Batteries Plus franchise sales come from retail customers. The other half is commercial business, Ruhlman says.

Locally, Ruhlman's business so far is split 70-30, with most of the business coming from the retail side, he says.

"The commercial side takes a little longer to get up and running," he says. "That's one of the areas we have to focus on."

Among Ruhlman's commercial clients are Syracuse University, alarm companies with battery backup systems, and delivery companies like UPS.

Contractors are fans of the store's rebuilding service, Ferguson adds.

In addition to selling batteries, the store offers testing and servicing of damaged batteries. Staff members can often rebuild damaged battery packs - such as the type used on cordless power tools - rather than simply selling a new one, Ferguson says.

The store has also worked on survey equipment and water-meter reading systems.

So far, Ruhlman is the only Batteries Plus franchisee in the state. He say he's heard a store may be opening in Long Island, but right now, the company's only New York outpost is DeWitt.

Nationwide the company has more than 300 franchise locations. The firm launched in 1988 in Wisconsin and began franchising in 1992.

"Batteries Plus is a whole new concept in the state of New York," Ruhlman says. "It's still a brand new concept [nationwide] even though there's 300 stores across the country."

A Batteries Plus franchise typically costs $145,800 to $300,700 to launch, including a $37,500 franchise fee, according to entrpreneur.com, the Web site of Entrepreneur magazine. Ongoing costs include a 4 percent royalty fee.