Fourteen new and existing Hearthside properties in Nevada, Colorado and Texas are being re-branded, starting in the next 30 days, to reflect the Parsippany, NJ-based Villager Franchise Systems contract. New signs, new logos and "new names on the soap," Dale Bullough, Home & Hearth chairman, told GlobeSt.com. The deal's real thrust puts the Cendant division into a promoter's role for the new branding of Hearthside Extended Stay Studios by Villager.
Villager is looking at acquiring other regional hotel chains, but Hearthside's the first to come on board, Ken Rodgers, Villager president and CEO, told GlobeSt.com. He's mum about whom, but did say there are talks with regional hoteliers nationwide. Both executives emphasize the Hearthside deal is not an acquisition, but rather a "co-branding" or "marriage" of the chain and Villager services for such critical needs as training, marketing, purchasing and most importantly, finding new franchisees.
Hearthside's rollout strategy calls for five new hotels per year. Villager's Rodgers says "we hope to be able to drive 30 properties a year." The newest market being eyed is Arizona. "We instantaneously had the ability to go coast to coast with a complete product and north to south," Bullough says of his five-year-old company.
There are five Hearthsides in Dallas, three in Houston, one in Colorado Springs, CO and one under construction in Aurora, CO. The chain also has one hotel in Austin and another being built in the state capital's northwest submarket. In Las Vegas, there is one Hearthside in the ground and another that is awaiting a building permit. All of the under-construction hotels will deliver in the next 75 days, estimates Bullough.
"We didn't buy into them and they didn't buy us. We're just combining the talents," emphasizes Bullough. The deal puts another 2,070 rooms into Villager's 10,000-room, 152-property portfolio in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Villager's take is that the deal's a vehicle to expand its Villager Lodge and Villager Premier brands that are now open or under development. In Texas, there is a Villager Premier in North Richland Hills, midway between Dallas and Ft. Worth, and a Villager Lodge in San Antonio. In Colorado Springs, there is a Villager Premier and a Lodge facility in Pueblo and only one holding in north Las Vegas.
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