When you spend the day with Don Feeley, Sr. and Don Feeley, Jr., you quickly understand that it's a father and son relationship that really works - one that's built on a lot of respect for each other. They're a study in contrasts: The senior Feeley, 66, is plainspoken and takes great pride in his craftsmanship, while Don, Jr., 44, loves industry politics, chooses his words carefully and is the business strategist. Together they've built a powerhouse collision repair business in Riverside, City Body & Frame, which will open its third shop location in April on the company's 30th anniversary. 

The second location for City Body & Frame, now the corporate offices, opened in late 2005. While the facade may be rather plain, walk through the doors and, wow! - granite floors and counters, rich wood furnishings and decor touches that would make Martha Stewart comfortable.

The new offices reflect the pride that the family takes in their business. Don, Sr. (left) acts as general contractor on the two new facilities while Don, Jr. runs the repair business.

Body technician Ruben Cruz uses a Car-O-Liner Speed Rack to elevate his work surface. City Body & Frame has eight Speed Racks. At the new facilities, the racks will be flush mounted into the floor so they can "disappear" when not needed.

The company's second location, in an industrial area on East La Cadena, opened late last year and, while the facade of the 25,000 sq. ft. shop looks pretty ordinary, the reception area with its granite floor and counter-tops has a definite "wow!" factor. The customer lounge includes a plasma TV, a wireless hotspot for high-speed Internet, and a kid's play space. The conference room and executive offices have design elements and furniture that would make a high-priced lawyer jealous. "We hope the customers will like it but, honestly, we didn't do it for them," said Don, Jr., "We built this for us - to make a statement about who we are and how we feel about our business."

Well, how they feel about their business right now is pretty good. Since Don, Sr. opened the doors with four employees in 1976 in downtown Riverside, the company has grown to $5 million in sales and 36 employees, including three other family members in key roles: Laura Feeley, production manager; Kim Feeley, estimating and marketing; and Mike Feeley, Estimatix manager. Customer service manager Maria Flores and Chief Financial Officer Tiki Bandur round out the executive team. "Family is a large part of the reason we made this big financial commitment to expansion," explains Don, Jr. "With one shop, we couldn't offer real opportunity to my sister and brother and our other key employees. I'd also like to think that a few years down the road, when we're larger, none of us will have to work as hard as we do now."

Starting over after 10 years

But the road to success wasn't always a straight one. After ten years of business, just about the time Don, Sr. had things running smoothly, the city threw him a curve ball, taking his shop by eminent domain and forcing an unplanned move to 14th Street. For two years, Don, Sr. concentrated on building the new shop, leaving then 21-year-old Don, Jr. to run the collision repair operation in a temporary location. "I was a painter back then, just a kid, and knew damn little about running a business," recalls Don, Jr. "I won't kid you, there's still a lot of scar tissue from those days. It was rough."

Today, Don, Sr. is still the one building shops. He talks more like a building contractor than the body-repair man that he was when he moved his family west from Massachusetts in 1969. He personally designed the two new facilities and acts as his own general contractor. "I like what I do now, building the new shops. The body shop business is a lot different today than when I ran the shop - better actually. People are a lot better trained today. Back then, some body guys were not much more than over-rated blacksmiths. Many times I had to stay late at night to redo a job. Lot more rules today, too. Heck, I remember when we used to spray lacquer paint right next to a welder."

Training is heavily emphasized at City Body & Frame, an I-CAR Gold Class shop, and the new facilities reflect that with large, comfortable training rooms that boast the latest audio-visual equipment. "The industry operates at a higher level today," says Don, Jr. "People made that investment in training and the latest equipment, so the standard is higher."

Car-O-Liner Speed Racks save backs

The new shop on La Cadena has the latest equipment - in spades! Akzo-Nobel finishes are sprayed in two drive-through spray booths. There's also a heated downdraft area surrounded by curtain walls. The techs will have the latest spot-welding equipment, a dust vac system will clean the air, and a new Car-O-Liner Speed Rack has been placed in each body man's stall. "The Speed Racks are flush mounted in the floor so we don't lose space when the techs aren't using them," explains Don, Sr. Actually, the techs use them most of the time because in addition to pulling frames they serve as elevated work benches. "That can really save a man's back," says Don, Sr.

Beyond the great equipment, the first impression as you walk into the shop area is the abundance of natural light. "And we hung wallboard all over the shop so we could paint it white to reflect the natural light and eliminate the need for a lot of expensive fluorescent lighting," points out Don, Sr.

He also points out the Hunter alignment equipment with the latest laser targets. "We had a big problem contracting out this work, so we do it ourselves." Adds Don, Jr., "We do everything ourselves whenever possible. It's the only way to stay on schedule and control quality.

Industry leader

When Don, Jr. is not running between the three shops, he can often be found in Sacramento at a legislative hearing on an industry issue or working to build the California Autobody Association (CAA), an organization for which he served as president seven years ago and now serves as treasurer. "It was through my involvement with CAA that I came to see where we [City Body & Frame] had to go with the business. It's hard being a small business owner. You're very isolated. You need to get away from the shop to develop a vision of how to make it better."

And Don, Jr. has some very definite ideas on how to make the industry better; ideas he's honed in

Riverside County is one of the fastest growing metro areas in California, and the Feeley family's City Body & Frame is expanding rapidly to take advantage of that growth. Founded 30 years ago by Don Feeley, Sr. (right), the company recently opened its second location and the third will open in April. Don, Jr., a former president of California Autobody Association, has a strategy that says collision repair needs to be convenient

countless CAA meetings, Collision Industry Conference confabs, endless seminars at NACE, as chairman of the CAPA technical committee, and on no less than five trips to Taiwan visiting aftermarket parts manufacturers.

We have to look at the 'how' of getting the vehicle repaired. Today, there's shared stewardship of the 'how': repairers, insurers, parts manufacturers all have a say in it. It used to be that just the shop decided 'how' to repair the vehicle. The 'how' is important because it leads to 'where and when' the vehicle gets repaired. We all serve the same customer - the vehicle owner. 

Safety, quality and economics

Don, Jr.'s idea of how best to serve the customer isn't popular with all shop owners. "You have to offer the consumer three things: safety, quality, economics - in that order. As long as you give them those things, you can offer alternative repair methods. That includes the repair versus replace decision, and can mean aftermarket or used parts when it's appropriate. If none of the alternatives make economic sense, then 'total' the car.

"Quality replacement parts need to be available in the market. The standard for using them versus OEM is the age and condition of the car prior to the accident.

"If you read this as an unconditional endorsement of non- OEM parts, be careful - it isn't. "I don't like playing the victim," says Don, Jr. "If you know a product is inferior, you know it. You don't use it. If you do use it, then there's a disservice being done to the consumer. You have the responsibility as a repairer to speak up. Go back to the insurer if necessary. We're the experts. The welfare of the consumer can get lost in all this. We have to make sure that doesn't happen."

Consumer marketing, DRPs

And how do you keep a $5 million dollar operation - and growing, please - busy? "We built it on repeat customers, good relationships, doing good work," says Don, Sr.

"Yes, those are all important, but the repair business has changed," replies Don, Jr., "and now with more capacity we plan to beef up our marketing efforts and increase our advertising." And the role of insurers in all this? "I do believe DRP has value, properly administered." Not surprisingly, the 14th Street shop has quite a number of DRP relationships.

"We certainly hope that most of these relationships will transfer to our two new locations, but there's no guarantee." And what happens if a consumer, while taking his car for repairs to the long-established 14th Street location "suggested" by his insurer, drives right by the new La Cadena shop and decides to take it there, but La Cadena isn't on the DRP list? "That's going to get interesting," concedes Don, Jr., "and it's not very clear right now."