“Lawn Doctor started in a hardware store over 55 years ago on Main St., literally. My father opened up some of the very first franchises, and we’ve just grown so much since then. What’s great about this business is that it’s really a people business; you can develop long-term relationships with customers. I’m excited about the amazing innovation that we continue to have today that’s going to fuel even more growth.”
— Lawn Doctor CEO Scott Frith
Suburban sprawl begins to take hold in southern New Jersey, creating a housing boom in Matawan, NJ.
New homeowners, troubled by poor lawns, begin pouring into Matawan’s hardware store, owned by Tony Giordano. They seek both products and advice to get their lawns greener and healthier.
Hardware store owner Tony Giordano, in an effort to help the new local homeowners, begins to hold free weekend lectures in his store. He teaches proper lawn care methods and procedures to the novice homeowners. His lectures become so popular that his store is not big enough to hold the crowds.
Tony Giordano sees a big opportunity in providing a service to these new homeowners and creates a business. He begins providing his lawn care services to new homeowners, who are more than happy to have a professional do it right.
Tony Giordano partners with friend and engineer Bob Magda, who concepts and builds the first piece of proprietary equipment that takes lawn care to a higher level. They start Auto Lawn, a lawn care business.
Seeing the opportunity presented by their new growing business based on Magda’s equipment designs, they decide to begin franchising their lawn care systems and equipment, and Lawn Doctor is born.
Following the passing of Tony Giordano, Russell Frith is named President and CEO. Under Frith’s direction, Lawn Doctor continued growing to become one of the most successful franchises in the country.
Honors abound – Lawn Doctor is named one of the country’s best lawn care franchise companies by Success Magazine, World-Class Franchise by FranSurvey, and Entrepreneur Magazine ranks Lawn Doctor #1 Lawn Care Franchise, a Top 25 Home-based Franchise by Entrepreneur Magazine (2007), and One of the Top 100 Franchise Opportunities by Entrepreneur Magazine (2007).
Wall Street Journal said that Lawn Doctor offers the best combination of service and pricing.
Lawn Doctor names Scott Frith CEO of Lawn Doctor. He has driven growth forward through strategic planning, performance improvement initiatives and a focus on continued innovation.
Today
Entrepreneur Magazine Ranked Lawn Doctor 40 years in a row in the Franchise 500. With nearly 60 years of franchise experience, Lawn Doctor has approximately 600 locations and counting. Lawn Doctor is proud to be part of the Happinest Brand – partnering with emerging home service brands to accelerate their individual businesses and to ultimately deliver every home service under one roof.
