Twenty-five year old company, 1-800 Radiator has found a winning strategy for providing radiators and other cooling parts to the autobody industry by franchising their business to local owners who have a vested interest in offering personal service to shops in their community.

The secret to the success of 1-800 Radiator is the company’s ability to combine national resources and centralized efficiency with the local convenience of having a well-stocked warehouse in the immediate vicinity. The fully integrated system is seamless from coast-to-coast – enabling owners to view inventory across the nation, and more importantly, in nearby areas. In the rare event that a warehouse does not have a particular part in stock, it can be located and secured for the customer in a short period of time.

From one small northern California distribution company started in the '80s by Mike Holcomb, 1-800 Radiator, now owned by Mike Rippey, has grown into a corporation with 210 locations across the United States. There are 40 warehouses in California, Nevada and Arizona alone.

Three years ago, Rippey realized that, although the company was very successful, the lasting relationship between corporate and the local customer was lacking. He began experimenting with the franchise system and found that territories with local owners picked up more customers..

At 1-800 Radiator, each owner goes above and beyond to provide the best possible products and service, particularly to customers in the autobody industry, all the while being backed by a large corporation that can offer coast-to-coast lifetime warranties on parts and labor, a massive late model parts inventory, and the economies of scale that go along with being the largest purchaser of OEM- produced aftermarket parts in terms of radiators and condensers. The company’s parts are listed in all major estimating systems, fully available to all repairers. It also produces a catalogue that is unlike any other in the industry.

Each owner has taken a different path to arrive at the destination of becoming a 1-800 Radiator franchisee.

Down in the valley

Take for example, Bobby Bans, owner of 1-800 Radiator of San Fernando Valley in California. In corporate finance for the past ten years with GM and Fleet Bank, he worked with hundreds of companies a year. But his desire was to have a business of his own. When he learned about 1-800 Radiator he began researching the industry which seemed to be going through a big change – from small mom-and-pop shops to big box warehouses. Bans saw 1-800 Radiator as the best of both worlds.

Bans stated, “I believe that change creates opportunity. I saw the glass as half full and jumped into the business with both feet two years ago. My association with 1-800 Radiator allows me to provide service others cannot. Along with quality OEM and OEM-like parts at good prices, instant access to those parts and the buying power of a large company, I am able to get to know the body shop owners, who have more confidence when I work with them owner to owner. I give them excellent service, excellent product and they get what they need right away.”