Battery & Light Bulb Franchise Ranked in Top 20 of the 100 "Best of the Best".

Batteries Plus^®, the nation's first, largest and fastest growing battery and light bulb franchise, was recently ranked No. 19 on the Dun & Bradstreet AllBusiness AllStar Franchise rankings. This is a huge leap from its ranking of No. 31 last year. Different than in years past, the 2012 AllBusiness AllStar list now showcases the 100 "best of the best" franchises, down from its recognition of the top 300 franchises previously. This makes the 2012 rankings stronger than ever.

Now in its fourth year, the AllBusiness AllStar Franchise rankings are based on a number of criteria analyzed by the AllBusiness.com team. The franchises are evaluated and ranked based on franchise unit growth rate, financial strength, system size, number of years in business, number of years franchising, and Web (brand) visibility.

"We just celebrated our 500th store opening and are coming off a record year of franchise agreement signings to open 71 new stores, so it is not surprising that our AllBusiness AllStar rank, which is partially based on franchise unit growth rate and system size, spiked tremendously this year," said Russ Reynolds, CEO. "Batteries Plus has been a franchising mainstay for more than 20 years now and our store count and brand awareness is continuing to grow at a fast rate."

This is the fourth consecutive year that Batteries Plus has been named to the AllBusiness AllStar rankings. This year the franchise was ranked No. 26 for its financial strength, up from No. 40 last year; No. 42 for growth, up from No. 95 last year; and No. 45 for Web visibility, up from No. 87 last year. Ranking overall at No. 59 in 2010 and No. 31 in 2011, Batteries Plus climbed higher on the AllBusiness AllStar rankings this year thanks to improvements in all categories.

The first Batteries Plus store opened in 1988 in Green Bay, WI, and strictly sold car batteries. Since then thecompany began franchising in 1992 and opened its first franchise owned store in Fort Wayne, IN. Batteries Plus has grown from offering a limited selection of batteries to now offering a comprehensive selection of over 40,000 batteries, light bulbs, related products and technical support across 500 stores in 46 states and Puerto Rico.

Batteries Plus serves the expanding $30.7 billion U.S. battery industry and the growing U.S. light bulb industry estimated to be at $14 billion in sales (Freedonia Research Study). Having experienced a 44% increase in store count over the last 3 years, and with same store sales growing an average of 12.4% over that same span, Batteries Plus remains one of the top franchise opportunities on the market in 2012. The Batteries Plus franchise opportunity is in a unique position to offer prospective franchisees multiple revenue streams including retail, business-to-business, and ecommerce sales.

Contact: Sheryl Bass, Fishman Public Relations (847) 945-1300, 236 or sbass[at]fishmanpr.com