Like mother, like daughter: A history of Meineke success
Janet Cummings explains how she has continued on the legacy of her mother and kept their Meineke store running for more than 40 years.
Janet Cummings and her family are an integral part of Meineke history.
It all began with Janet’s mother, Jeanne Kennedy. In the early 1970s, Jeanne approached Sam Meineke in hopes of opening her own franchise. He had one question for her, “What would a woman do with a muffler shop?”
“She spent the next 30 minutes convincing him that she could do it,” Janet said. Jeanne’s persistence paid off, and she went on to open the first franchised location in the country. Her impact on Meineke didn’t stop there.
“At the time, the way to succeed was to have a lot of shops,” Janet remembered. “So, my mother started buying stores one by one. She brought my father, who was a chiropractor at the time, in to run one and then my brother and myself, too.”
Together, they grew to seven family members operating 18 locations across Texas. Today, Janet’s store that she owns with her husband Jim remains.
Finding her footing
When her mother first called to ask her to come run a Meineke shop, Janet was 21 years old and living in Las Vegas working various odd jobs.
Janet said, “My first response was, ‘No way. I’ll get dirt under my fingernails.’”
Yet, just like Jeanne persuaded Sam Meineke, she persuaded her daughter as well. Janet moved to Texas in 1976 to take over a store. There were natural bumps in the road as she transitioned to running a muffler shop, but overall, the structure of Meineke made it smooth: “Sam’s business model was simple with inexpensive overhead. We only did mufflers at the time, so it was a specific product and service.”
Adapting to changes
As the owners of the first franchised location, Janet and her family have been a part of the many changes the Meineke brand has made over the years. The biggest pivot Janet recalls came in the 1990s when Ken Walker took over as the CEO.
“Ken transitioned us from a muffler shop to offering total car care,” Janet said. “It was a big change. For us, we had 18 shops to update with new equipment and hire people with different skill sets.”
However, one thing Janet has realized as a seasoned franchise owner is that she trusts Meineke. Following their lead in terms of business development, technology, and marketing has always paid off for her.
“The world is changing so fast. You can’t stay in the past,” Janet said.
Another major change that’s propelled the business to the future has been the increase in technology. According to Janet, that change has been for the better: “There’s a lot of data that we didn’t have access to before, and there are things we can see in the point of sales system. This wealth of information has been really beneficial.”
Looking to the future
Janet’s role in Meineke looks different today than when she started out more than 45 years ago.
For starters, she is now an active member of the Meineke Dealers Association and currently serves as the association’s president. “It’s been a really great experience,” Janet reflected. “As franchisees, we have a lot of rights that many other franchises do not have. We really appreciate that.”
While she’s actively involved working with the Meineke corporate office to better improve the lives of franchise owners, Janet is less involved with the daily operations of the franchise she still owns.
That’s a result of one thing – her children.
Like her mother, she’s been able to pass the Meineke legacy on to her son and daughter. Her son, Matt Cummings, is now part-owner in their store and handles the day-to-day operations.
“Matt originally wanted to be a teacher, but he decided he wanted to continue his grandmother’s legacy instead,” Janet said.
Jeanne passed away in 2011, and a year later, Matt came to his parents and said he wanted to join the family business. Janet and her husband stayed active for several years, helping him settle into the role. But in 2021, they started to step back more.
“My daughter’s now joined the team as well and runs the back office,” Janet said. “It’s really cool to see this thing last for three generations. That’s something special.”