When consumers think of an auto body shop, it still evokes images of a dingy office, lots of dust, paint smells and cigar smoke. But as those in the industry already know, that image is changing. The new state-of-the-art facility built by D&D Collision Specialist in Spring, Texas (north of Houston) exemplifies that change. Owned by Tim Gill and David Niccum, this shop is the newest of three facilities operated by the partners in the Greater Houston area.
"This facility is one of a kind," according to Tim Gill, vice president in charge of administration. It grew out of years of experience starting with one shop, growing and expanding, the purchase of a second location, and then the addition of this third "monster" facility.
Tim Gill and David Niccum met in the mid-80s when they both worked for the same auto dealership in Houston. Gill is a Houston native, whereas Niccum is a California transplant. Gill, as the parts manager, and Niccum, the service manager, seemed to get along like oil and water during that time period but in truth they respected each other's capabilities.
In 1988, David Niccum left the dealership and partnered with David Griffith to start their own body shop in Humble, Texas -- D&D Collision, named for the two Davids. The first shop was a mere 1200 sq ft, with work consisting of repairing oil tankers, then motorhomes and fire department equipment. They also did rental car work to enhance their cash flow. After buying two wreckers, D&D started doing collision work and in 1990 expanded their shop to 5000 square feet.
As business continued to grow, D&D moved into a 20,000 sq ft facility located on two acres across the street from the original shop. Unfortunately, in 1994, Griffith faced serious health problems and was not able to work steadily. From 1994 to 1997, hard-working Niccum bore most of the responsibility for running the shop. Upon Griffith's retirement in 1997, Niccum re-teamed with Tim Gill, who bought out Griffith and became Niccum's partner.
In April 1994, even during Griffith's illness, D&D purchased Callaway's Collision Specialist, an 8000 sq ft building also in Humble. Located on "retail alley" and in close proximity to a USAA insurance agency, this facility laid the groundwork for the DRP business. Humble is a town with a population of only 15,000 residents, but it swells to 250,000 people each business day.
The fun really began in 1998, as Gill and Niccum began expanding both facilities at the same time, adding a 10,000 square-foot paint shop to both D&D and Callaway's. D&D bought two more acres bringing the total acreage to four. D&D now had 17 wreckers that needed space to park. The rest of the acreage was for parking the additional cars brought in by now doing AAA work.
Visibility builds business volume
Even though Callaway's was in this high profile area, it could not be seen from the street. The building's facade was raised so it could be seen when people drove by. A three-peaked clock tower was built, with the 6-foot high clock coming out of the center peak. Across the three peaks, in blazing neon, read the sign "Callaway's Collision Specialist." And on the wall, in three foot high letters, the shop offered a "LIFETIME GUARANTY", an offer that very few body shops were providing. There was no question now that Callaway's was in the neighborhood.
Next came an expanded paint shop and a 2000 sq ft office and customer reception area, creating a user-friendly place for customers to complete their paperwork and pick up their cars.
Callaway's opened in November 1998 on the weekend that Daylight Savings Time ended. Imagine the sight of the blazing neon lights and the glowing clock tower as people both came and went from work! The clock tower has become a local landmark as people look over to Callaway's to see if they are on time for work or if they will be home in time for dinner. Once Callaway's opened with the visible facade, monthly income more than doubled.
Creating a "monster"
As Tim Gill put it, "We do a lot of building!" Once again, in March 2000, Callaway's expanded with another 10,000 sq ft building, 210 feet of which fronted on the high traffic area. Sales leaped again and both the new Callaway's and the original D&D were booming.
Then, in 2002, after two years of searching for land, construction began on a new 84,000 sq ft collision center - the largest in the eight-state area around Texas. Ground was broken in April 2002 on what Gill and Niccum call their "monster" location, D&D Collision Specialist. Only 16 miles from Humble, Gill and Niccum opened their doors to a whole new clientele. The Spring facility, just off highway I-45, has a ratio of five customers to every one at the other shops.
Built in record time
The construction of the new facility was undertaken with David Niccum himself serving as general contractor. The day after the acquisition papers were signed, tractors rolled onto the property and grading began. Once the concrete was poured and the building structure started going up, Niccum put the shop together in only 13 weeks, coordinating all the different subcontractors and equipment vendors in record time.
On November 18 the doors opened. Because of the success of the clock tower facade at Callaway's, the same facade was used at the new shop - three peaks and, this time, an 8 ½ ft clock.
The expansive, state-of-the-art facility includes a body and frame repair area with capacity of 90 15-foot-wide workstation bays, a huge paint shop, parts department, a first-class customer lounge, offices and training facilities.
The partners have invested more than $750,000 in new equipment that includes four Blowtherm Ultra Spray booths, two custom paint-mixing rooms and two closed-top-open-front drive-through spray booths. Central to the body frame area and the finishing area is an elevated dispatch room that oversees the entire production process through a bank of closed-circuit television screens.
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