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Shop Showcase (163)
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Len's Auto Body Endorses Oceanside's Pro Spot Quality Welding Systems
Written by Erica SchroederLen’s Auto Body Inc. is in Oceanside, CA—the hometown of Autobody News. It was founded in 1985 and has grown to become one of the largest and most prominent body shops in San Diego’s North County region.
To view a PDF of this article please CLICK HERE.
The shop facility is 38,000 square feet and the property is around 86,000 square feet. Len’s employs about 30 employees including 4 Estimators, 8 auto body technicians, 6 Apprentices, 2 Painters, 3 Prep, 2 Detail, 1 ASE Certified Mechanic, 1 Parts Manager, 1 Production Manager and a complete office staff. Len’s technicians are all I-CAR Gold Class Certified and their mechanics are ASE Certified.
Len’s sees around 200 cars per month and is able to gross about $6 million per year for all operations. Len Verheyen and his wife, Anne, have been running the business as a family team since its founding.
Verheyen was able to learn about the automotive industry from doing body work with his dad in Sydney, Australia in the 1960s. Anne handles the customer service and insurance connections for the business.
In 2002 the shop moved from their original location in Oceanside to a new building about 2 blocks away that Verheyen had designed himself.
Roy Rogers Body Shop: Old World Craftsmanship, Education in Laurel, MS
Written by Erica SchroederRoy Rogers Body Shop in Laurel, MS, has been a family-run business since its founding in 1954. Current Vice President Ann Smith’s father opened the original shop on Mason St in downtown Laurel. Ann and her brother, Thomas Rogers, moved the shop to its current location in 1979.
To view a PDF of this article please CLICK HERE.
“Our business is 56 years old, we’re a family business that is in its third generation of ownership,” said Ann.
Ann felt that being a family run business for so many years had allowed the shop to focus more on their craftsmanship and the quality of work turned out by the business.
Roy Rogers’ facility is just under 15,000 square feet in total; 10,000 of that is collision repair area, 3,000 is for paint and the rest is taken by office space. Roy Rogers employs about 12 employees and sees nearly 120 cars per month for all operations. The shop is able to gross just under $2 million annually.
All Roy Rogers technicians are ASE and I-CAR certified; the company focuses heavily on getting their employees as much education and training as possible.
Specialty Paint & Body Repair in Athens GA—A Recycling Specialist
Written by David BrownThomas Durrence’s Specialty Paint & Body is growing—and his “green” efforts are making other things grow in the Peach State.
To view a PDF of this article please CLICK HERE.
Since 1987, his full-service shop, 11542 Jefferson Road in Athens, Ga., has been providing auto body repair in the Athens and Jefferson areas. The 13,100-square-foot-shop, an I-CAR Gold Class service facility, repairs more than 800 cars and trucks annually. About 91 percent are insurance referrals, and the shop is also referred from several area dealerships, explains Durrence, who started Specialty after working in the collision industry for several years.
Old-fashioned business virtues have primed his success, he notes: “Our primary goals are quality repair, fair prices, and customer convenience, and our well-trained employees are committed to quality, honesty and integrity.”
At the same time, he and his 10 employees use the latest estimating and management software and advanced equipment for body repair and painting — ensuring a quality product for the customers. For instance: “We blueprint the repair for individual cars so as to minimize waste and maximize efficiency,” Durrence says. “We seek to understand our customers and give them the repair they desire as well as educate them on the repair process.”
He notes, too, that Specialty Paint & Body is one of the few facilities in Athens designed as a body shop: “This allows us to repair cars in assembly-line fashion with as little down time between steps as possible.”
ECO-Friendly Auto Center in Oakland Park, FL, Walks the Talk
Written by Erica SchroederWhen Sully Dawson opened ECO-Friendly Auto Center in Oakland Park, FL 3 months ago he wanted to leave no environmentally friendly stone unturned.
To view a PDF of this article please CLICK HERE.
“I made a conscious effort to be green from the inception,” said Dawson, “I took the best of everything I could find out there.”
The 6,000 square-foot shop has 3 employees and sees about 350 cars a month. ECO-Friendly has only been open for about 3 months, but Dawson anticipates the repair shop will bring in about $400,000 this year. The shop does major mechanical repair work as well as regular maintenance like oil changes and tire repairs but does not do any body work.
According to Dawson the shop recycles everything possible including, metal, batteries and paper. The shop also uses a service called Safety-Kleen which takes their used oil and antifreeze, cleans it and returns it to the shop for reuse.
ECO-Friendly also provides customers with the option of using G-Oil Green Motor Oil. G-Oil is made from animal fat and is completely biodegradeable. ECO-Friendly is the only shop in the state of Florida to offer this option which is American Petroleum Institute certified. According to Dawson, G-Oil is a little more expensive but well worth the cost. He also said he is seeing that about half of his customers coming in are making the switch from regular motor oil to G-Oil.
The shop also sells other biodegradeable automotive necessities; from engine degreasers to car wax to window cleaners, customers can find everything they need to be environmentally conscious when it comes to their vehicles.
Premier Collision Center in New Orleans, LA, Mixes Environmentally Friendly Processes With Traditional Customer Service Methods
Written by Erica SchroederPremier Collision Center in New Orleans, Louisiana opened in 2008 in the eastern New Orleans area to better serve customers after Hurricane Katrina. Beyond being the only shop in the area to use ONXY HD waterborne paints, Premier Collision Center also uses environmentally friendly products, sells damaged bumpers back to their suppliers, utilizes paint less dent repair processes and recycles old tires and bumper plastics in order to reduce their hazardous emissions and waste.
When asked why Premier made the decision to go with waterborne paints when they opened in 2008, collision center manager Raymond Ducote said, “Most car manufacturers are using it more and more now, so we saw the opportunity and jumped on it.”
Ducote also mentioned that he felt the color and clarity of waterborne paints were superior to solvent-based paints and worth the investment.
Premier Collision Center is a Toyota certified collision repair shop; they also works with 4 dealerships in the area: Premier Honda, Premier Kia of Kenner, Toyota of New Orleans and Premier Nissan of Metairie. With 12 employees working out of a 9500 square-foot shop, Premier Collision Center is able to see about 100 to 120 cars per month.
Ducote said the shop opened in 2008 in the eastern New Orleans area because that area had not been rebuilt back to its pre-hurricane condition yet and a body shop was desperately needed to service customers in that area. This location also enables them to service the New Orleans metro area as well as other surrounding communities.
Premier Collision Center also works with insurance company Direct Repair Programs (DRPs) to best service the customer’s needs. Premier is able to pull in about 1 million in total sales annually.
Since Premier Collision Center is a Toyota certified shop they are required to use all of the latest tools and techniques. Their state of the art facility uses state of the art equipment, including; the laser measuring system Portal, spot resistant welders and waterborne painting tools as well as a completely computerized paint matching system. They also provide online repair tracking for their customers so they can monitor their vehicle repairs in real time online.
For more information please visit Premier Collision Center’s website at www.premierautomotivecollision.com.
To view a PDF of this article PLEASE CLICK HERE.
ICC Collision Centers Opens El Mirage, AZ Location
Written by Melanie AndersonICC Collision Centers is proud to announce the grand opening of their new El Mirage, AZ, location. The shop hosted an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, June 5, 2010 to mark the grand opening of this new state of the art facility. The event, which was open to the public, ran from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. at 12555 Northwest Grand Avenue El Mirage.
Attending were Mayor Michele Kern of El Mirage, Arizona; Sam Mirabile, Vice President of Operations; Sean Darcy, Vice President of Business Development; Ed Hovsepian, Los Angeles Regional Manager and local business officials.
The facility is strategically located in the greater Northwest Valley in order to expedite turnaround times and allow a full-service customer experience. In addition, ICC offers a 10 day free car rental, lifetime transferable registered warranty, 18 month free paint maintenance program, convenient rental car at locations provided by Hertz and towing is available.
“Our facility is laid out for lean processes. We have very quick turnarounds and that helps get our customers back on the road,” said Tracey Collins, Business Development Manager for ICC.
ICC Collision Centers is also doing their part to be conscious of their impacts on the environment in their shops; the California locations are using waterborne paints and most of the parts they use are recycled in all locations.
“Providing the highest level of service to our customers and vendors in the Northwest Valley is essential to our success, and we’re pleased to offer a dedicated location to better serve them,” states Matt Gorges, General Manager of ICC Collision Centers, Arizona, “We look forward to making a long-term contribution to the Northwest Valley economy.”
ICC Collision Centers Avondale location has been in Arizona for four years and has built a reputation as a top level service center. Established in 1986, ICC Collision Centers has 10 locations located in the heart of California and Arizona. Over the past 28 years, ICC Collision Centers has grown a reputation of being one of the premier auto collision centers in the business. For more information go to www.icccollision.com.
To see a PDF of this article PLEASE CLICK HERE.
Lloyd’s Collision in Santee, CA, Puts Some Diverse Work Through an Eight-man Shop
Written by Jeremy HayhurstAssiduously and passionately, you have built a shop your father opened more than a half century ago into Arizona’s largest independently owned collision repair company — with more than 10,000 vehicles repaired annually for “delighted” customers.
To read David M. Brown's article in PDF format with photos, click here
During this time, you and your brother have opened six large facilities. Today, you live well with your wife and family; the community and your industry regularly awards you; and customers, suppliers and national insurance giants are consistently satisfied with your company’s work.
Sturken Auto Body Not Afraid of the Fight to Do Jobs Right
Written by Ed AttanasioSteve Sturken, president of Sturken Auto Body in San Jose, CA, is a second-generation lifer in the collision repair business. He has been described as “passionate”, “intense” and “uncompromising”—by his customers, employees, and even his competitors.
To read Ed Attanasio's Shop Showcase in PDF format with photos, click here
Fletcher Jones Motorcars, Newport Beach, CA, Embraced Waterborne to Advantage
Written by Ed AttanasioBy staying ahead of the game and acting positively in converting their shop to waterborne, the Collision Center at Fletcher Jones in Newport Beach was able to make the change smoothly and avert potential problems and obstacles associated with the change.
