American Home Shield 2008 Annual Report Download - page 8

Table of Contents
Canada, Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom and had entered into licensing arrangements to provide these services in five other countries: Hong Kong,
Japan, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Furniture Medic. Furniture Medic is a leading provider of on-site furniture repair and restoration services in the United States serving residential
customers. As of December 31, 2008, Furniture Medic provided these services in 49 states and the District of Columbia through approximately 350 franchised
locations. As of December 31, 2008, Furniture Medic also provided on-site furniture repair and restoration services through franchisees in Canada and the
United Kingdom and had entered into licensing arrangements to provide these services in France and Saudi Arabia.
AmeriSpec. AmeriSpec is a leading provider of home inspection services in the United States serving residential customers. As of December 31, 2008,
AmeriSpec provided these services in 46 states and the District of Columbia through approximately 355 franchised locations. AmeriSpec also provided home
inspection services through a franchisee in Canada.
ServiceMaster Acceptance Company. SMAC provides financing to franchisees of the Company through commercial loans for franchise fees and
royalties, equipment and vehicle purchases, and working capital needs and to consumer customers of Terminix through retail installment sales contracts.
Commercial loans are typically for a term of one to seven years and are generally secured by the assets of the franchisee and other collateral. On
December 31, 2008, the outstanding balance of commercial loans was approximately $37.5 million with a bad debt reserve for commercial loans of
approximately $1.8 million. SMAC wrote off approximately $0.5 million in commercial loans in 2008. Retail installment sales contracts are typically for a
term of 12 months and are unsecured. On December 31, 2008, the outstanding balance of retail installment sales contracts was approximately $13.8 million.
In the event a customer fails to make payments under a retail installment sales contract for 120 days after the due date, Terminix purchases the installment
contract from SMAC.
MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION
ServiceMaster markets its services primarily through yellow pages advertisements, direct mail, the internet, television and radio advertising, print
advertisements, door-to-door solicitation and telemarketing. Additionally, American Home Shield and Terminix, in certain jurisdictions, market their services
through real estate brokerage offices in conjunction with the resale of single-family residences and through financial institutions and insurance agencies.
HEADQUARTER FUNCTIONS
The Business Support Center, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, administers payroll, benefits, risk management, travel and certain procurement
services for ServiceMaster's internal operations. Various administrative support departments also provide personnel, communications, marketing, government
and public relations, administrative, accounting, financial, tax, human resources, information technology and legal services.
SERVICE MARKS, TRADEMARKS AND TRADE NAMES
ServiceMaster holds various service marks, trademarks and trade names, such as ServiceMaster, Terminix, TruGreen, TruGreen LandCare, Merry Maids,
ServiceMaster Clean, American Home Shield, AmeriSpec and Furniture Medic, that it deems particularly important to the advertising activities conducted by
each of its reportable segments as well as the franchising
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