Wall Street Journal:

Art Bartlett wasn’t the first to apply to home sales a franchise model more often associated with selling hamburgers, but he was the most successful.

As co-founder of Century 21 Real Estate Corp., Mr. Bartlett, who died Dec. 31 at age 76, sought to make his company “the McDonald’s of real estate.”

By 1979, when Mr. Bartlett sold his interest in the company, Century 21 had grown to more than 7,000 offices in 50 states and Canada. Today the company’s 120,000 gold-jacketed staff sell homes in 67 countries.

“His concept was imitated by everybody, and it became spectacular,” says Dave Liniger, chairman of RE/Max International Inc., another big real-estate franchisor.

The son of a Glens Falls, N.Y., truck driver, Mr. Bartlett moved to Long Beach, Calif., in the 1940s to care for a sick relative. After working as a salesman for Campbell Soup Co., he took up real estate. He founded his own agency, then formed Comps Inc., an Orange, Calif.-based firm that was one of the earliest to use computers to track comparable home sales. Read full story.

Photo: Los Angeles Times.

Related posts:

1. 15 GMAC Real Estate Offices Convert To Franchisees Inman.com: A real estate veteran who previously sold his...
2. Hispanic Real Estate Firm Fastest Growing Real Estate Brand In US PR Web: Casa Latino opened for business in 2005...
3. Are You Ready For The Next Generation Of Real Estate? RisMedia.com: When you launch a real estate brand with...
4. Combine A Real Estate Biz With Successful Franchising Franchise International: MH Alshaya Group, a Kuwaiti-based company, launched...
5. Custom Home Builder, Top Selling New Home Realtor Join Forces – Marketing Agreement Will Benefit Entry-Level First Time Home Buyers PR.com: Brook Swientisky, Colorado/Wyoming Master Franchisor for G.J. Gardner...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.