Rose, 49, built his business slowly, working constantly, but taking enough time off to marry his high school sweetheart and now wife of 28 years, Laurie Rose. "She's the reason our stores have such appeal to customers," said Rose. "She helped me gut the buildings, remodel and decorate. Everyone remarks on how beautiful the offices are." The couple's two children, Ragen and Brennan, are both involved in the business after having attended college. "I suppose it's every parent's dream to have their children take over the business, but it shouldn't be just a given - they need to want it and to earn it." 

 

Veteran employees make growth easier

Rose's business quickly outgrew the garage and he soon leased adjoining space. By 1975 he had a 6,500 sq foot shop on Fremont Street in Concord and needed an office manager. Debbie Pryor walked though the door. Twenty seven years later, she's still there, as is general manager Steve Kelly, a 25 year veteran who started as an apprentice metal man. "Building a business is all about people," said Rose. "You find the best ones and you keep them."

While his business volume built steadily through the 1980's, Rose admits it wasn't explosive. "Our people did good work and I invested in a lot of training and equipment. We grew on word-of-mouth and got good referrals from insurance agents." They also did a lot of business with a Walnut Creek Toyota dealer which in 1993 lead to Rose opening his second shop. "They kind of forced my hand in expanding," said Rose, "and now I'm glad they did." The dealership had an empty body shop and told Rose he could take it over or they'd give it - and the business that went with it - to someone else. "Some choice," recalls Rose. That 6,500 ft shop in Walnut Creek moved to its own 16,000 sq ft building three years ago during a period of explosive growth.

What a headache!"

All technicians are paid by the hour, not on flat rate. "We offer entry pay of $10 - $12 an hour for apprentices and we bumped up the benefits package on the low end to attract entry level workers," said Rose. Good painters and metal techs can earn $25.00 plus. The plus is for overtime - lots of it. "By law we have to pay overtime after eight hours, and if a tech is productive, we've let them have as many overtime hours as they want. Some will work from 7am - 6 pm." The company also offers medical and dental coverage, paid holidays and vacation, and contributes to a 401K plan.

On marketing and DRPs

Recently, the company promoted Sal Contreras from estimator to marketing manager. "We're heavily into DRPs," said Contreras, who noted that strong insurance company relationships are critical to a business of this size. "Our most important marketing, though, is customer service. Insurance relationships can change in a heart beat, but a happy customer will come back and will refer others." Still, Contreras works on those insurance guys, calling on agents, particularly for State Farm, Farmers and Allstate.

Industry associations have played a big role in the shop's growth, too. They're active members of ASA and the new East Bay Autobody Association. The shop is I-CAR Gold Class certified and sends its techs to ASE classes, while managers take AMI training.

Akzo Nobel Benevolence particpants

"This East Bay area just grew tremendously in the '90's," said Rose. To take advantage of the population growth, Rose started building a second shop in Walnut Creek in 1995. At the same time, unexpectedly, he had an opportunity to get a second prime location in Concord on Via De Mercados. "This is a tough area for automotive permits. I was just going to do upholstery here (on Via De Mercados)." But a former Rose employee had opened a body shop across the street and waged a political battle to keep him out. "That toughened me. I fought hard and we ended up with a full blown shop. In fact, we made it our corporate headquarters." To make the '95-96 period even more difficult, the new Walnut Creek location was bought from a woman at a divorce sale and her ex-husband, who operated an auto repair shop there, refused to leave. "Took us a year to get him out, so we were fighting battles on two fronts.

With 104 employees, you can bet that Rose still has plenty of headaches. But the staff's experience level makes it easier: 8 have more than 20 years of experience and 6 have more than 10 years. The company still hires apprentices, and journeymen technicians each have a helper. "The helper is there to learn, though, and we make certain the techs are teaching them," Rose pointed out."

Contreras said that community involvement is also an important part of marketing. Last Christmas, the company participated in the Akzo Nobel Benevolence program in which vehicles are rebuilt and donated to needy, working families. "Everyone pitched in on their own time to fix those cars," said Contreras. "The team spirit building was terrific. When we presented the cars to two very deserving, working families, there were tears in a lot of eyes. We had news coverage in the newspaper and on TV."

 

"We've sprayed Akzo paint for maybe ten years," stated Rose. "They offer fantastic support, and we also get a lot out of the A-Coat Performance Groups. I've been going for five years and I still learn something at every meeting." Asked for particulars, Rose responded, "I learned the importance of sharing numbers with my people. They also helped me look at things differently as a multiple shop owner than I did with just the one shop. It's a leap, and they helped me make it successfully."