Mark Carr opened the first Christian Brothers Automotive service facility in 1982. Although he had limited exposure to automotive repair, customers reacted positively to the owner being on site at all times. Customers also responded positively to being treated in a professional manner with honesty and integrity. Mark observed that this was not standard practice in the automotive service industry; therefore customers were attracted to doing business at a facility that incorporated strong ethical principles.

In the mid-nineties, Mark was approached on several occasions to assist friends in opening automotive repair facilities. While assisting his friends in the opening of their own stores Mark realized that helping other Christian families open their own businesses was personally rewarding. Mark structured these stores in such a way that it allowed him to control the quality of service. The lessons Mark learned allowed him to implement controls that resulted in levels of success in one or two years that took the original location almost 10 years to accomplish. From that point forward Mark incorporated these lessons into the new franchisee training program.

Through the simple principle of treating customers with honesty and integrity, the stores began to achieve growth and success on a new level. Mark realized that his vision for Christian Brothers Automotive had the potential of changing the face of the automotive service industry. The next logical step to capitalize on this success was for Mark to turn his attention full time to opening new stores and becoming a franchisor.