SPEEDY TO SHUT DOWN 61 STORES
By Adnews Staff
Speedy Muffler King of Toronto plans to do some repair work on itself to counter sluggish sales. The company plans to close 61 of its auto repair outlets in Canada, the U.S. and France. It will close 10 in Canada, 36 in the U.S. and 15 in France immediately. Another 15 stores in France may be closed at a future date. Part of the reason Speedy has been losing money in North America is because of better-quality mufflers and extended manufacturers' warranties. The company says it also didn't integrated the French outlets properly. The store closings are just part of a restructuring plan that could also include selling other products at its outlets such as car batteries. In Canada, advertising for Speedy is done by Bozell Worldwide of Toronto. Speedy has 1,090 outlets worldwide. In Canada, it operates about 57 stores.