Brian Mattingly, CEO of marketing franchise Welcomemat Services, will always have a soft spot for his hometown, Chicago. Born and raised on the North Shore, he moved to Atlanta as a child and remained there, eventually founding Welcomemat, a company that provides welcome packages to new movers with coupons and special offers for local businesses.

Welcomemat now has eight corporate-owned locations and 14 franchises mostly concentrated in the southeastern U.S., but Brian is targeting the Chicagoland area for growth. He’s planning to open one location in Winnetka in the next year, with seven total planned for Illinois.

Why Winnetka? It’s a hotspot for businesses, with more than 300 small businesses concentrated in a village of just over 12,000 residents. And with top-notch public and private schools, low crime rates, easy access to Chicago and countless family activities, it’s a no-brainer why 70 new families move there each month. It doesn’t hurt that Winnetka is also one of Chicago’s most affluent suburbs.

Brian is confident that as more and more people continue to flock toward Chicago’s suburbs, need for services like Welcomemat will continue to grow – making it a solid franchise opportunity.

You can read more about Brian Mattingly and his plans for Welcomemat’s Chicago-area expansion in the Winnetka Talk.