Craig Mullett bought the Maaco franchise after it was dormant for a year, and kept it in the Jackson Township building it had been located.

“The guy who had it, had it for 30 years and it was shut down because he retired,” Craig Mullett said. “We did a reopen and kept it in the building he had because he owned it and the equipment. This was maybe the smartest thing we did. We spent the last four to five years running it, and building up capital to buy a new building and move it here.”

Mullett bought the building on Applegrove for $730,000, according to auditor records.

Starting a Maaco franchise from scratch would have been much more costly than reopening one. Moving to North Canton on Applegrove, the Mulletts believe, will increase visibility and traffic.

“We wanted to be in North Canton,” Craig said. “We’ve been looking to get into more of a retail space. Half of our business comes from retail. It’s great because we wanted to be a part of the North Canton community.”

Craig Mullett worked in automotive software development before he got the bug to become his own boss.

“I’ve always said, the rat race will survive without another rat,” Craig said.