Although it is a brand-new plumbing company within the region, Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Westchester is the latest franchise in a nationwide chain that has operated since 1970 and is based in more than 300 locations.
The Yonkers-based Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Westchester covers the entire county and opened last month “mainly to give good-quality plumbing services in Westchester County because there is a big demand for good plumbers and, unfortunately, there aren”™t that many,” said owner Ron Fanish.
The Mr. Rooter Plumbing chain is owned by Neighborly, a holding company of 29 brands that includes Rainbow Restoration, which offers emergency commercial and home restoration. Prior to launching the Westchester franchise of Mr. Rooter, Fanish has run a Rainbow Restoration franchise in Westchester since October 2017. Fanish was impressed with the quality of services Mr. Rooter provided and took the steps to head a franchise in Westchester, believing other plumbing chains to be disreputable or not to his standards.
“It just happened to be a Neighborly company, which was a big benefit,” Fanish said.
Fanish”™s seven-member workforce includes five plumbers who have amassed close to 30 years of experience in the industry. The team”™s focus is about evenly split between residential properties and commercial properties according to Fanish, and they address common issues residential and commercial properties have, such as leaky kitchen faucets, clogged pipes, burst heaters during winter and sewer backups.
At the core of the chain”™s success nationwide is the high level of trust it holds, which it has amassed through decades of service, which Fanish hopes to uphold with the Westchester location.
“It”™s known for its customer service and the quality of the work and the white-glove delivery,” Fanish said, adding that its strong reputation helps put customers at ease. “When you have a plumbing issue and you call a plumber, you don”™t really know what to expect ”” you don”™t know what kind of bill you”™re going to get, you don”™t know really what”™s going to happen and, a lot of the time, plumbing is not a cheap service.”
To ease such anxieties, the Westchester company, like its fellow franchisees, aims to provide a high level of customer service to make customers feel comfortable, offering a range of prices and presenting options for moving forward with maintenance or repairs.
To spread the word on his new business, Fanish is planning a marketing push to include billboards in White Plains and campaigns on social media. And while Fanish stated the new franchise of Mr. Rooter Plumbing is off to a strong start, he acknowledged the current economic conditions are forcing some changes on him.
“Unfortunately, all the prices just went up due to the supply chain,” he admitted. “Gas prices, inflation ”” these have affected the industry, that”™s for sure.”
Otherwise, Fanish is confident in the company”™s future, adding, “Mr. Rooter as a franchise in 2021 did close to half a billion dollars in plumbing services nationwide, so the business is growing, and the franchise is continuing to grow.”
