BrightStar Care is touting its “unprecedented” growth a little over halfway into 2024, signaling that it is still committed to expanding its franchise footprint around the country.
Specifically, the company has signed 15 new franchisees this year; signed 24 new franchise agreements; and opened 16 new locations. Currently, it has 396 agencies across the U.S., but will soon surpass 400.
The growth is taking place in 14 different states, but namely Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas and California.
“Expanding our footprint has been a focal point this year and we are thrilled to announce that we now have over 400 committed franchises,” Pete First, BrightStar Care’s Pete chief development officer, said in a statement. “The remarkable growth witnessed in the first half of this year is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our franchisees and support teams. Each new addition to our franchise network enhances our capabilities and further establishes us as a leading home care provider known for providing a higher standard of care to our clients.”
The Chicagoland-based BrightStar Care offers personal home care as well as supplemental staffing and home health care. It has over 15,000 caregivers and 5,700 registered nurses within its network.
BrightStar has also seen growth from its existing franchise owners. There have been eight such cases of acquisitions or expansions into new territory from franchisees. The company also wants to achieve 16 more openings by year end.
Why the growth is especially of note is that BrightStar had been significantly expanding its corporate-owned footprint over the last few years. It had been buying back franchise locations to use those locations as testing grounds for new models.
As of April 2023, nearly 10% of the company’s locations were corporate-owned.
“As we continue to align with where the health care industry is heading, we are focused on expanding BrightStar Owned by acquiring well-established franchised agencies that our entire network can learn and grow from,” BrightStar Care Executive Chairwoman Shelly Sun said at the time. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to expand BSO’s footprint in the Midwest through this monumental acquisition. … Franchising is how we became a nationwide enterprise, and we will continue to put processes in place, like BSO, to ensure its longevity.”
Sun wanted BrightStar franchisees to get more involved in Medicare Advantage (MA) business, as well as alternative models such as hospital at home. When there was some pushback on those fronts and others, BrightStar began expanding that corporate-owned footprint.
It appears, however, that any pushback the company was facing was not enough for it to stay away from growing its franchisee footprint long term.
Companies featured in this article:
