Twin Cities Body Shops Notice Less Business in February

KSTP-TV, a Minnesota-based news outlet, reported having spoken to a dozen body shops in the Twin Cities area, only to learn that half of them are saying last February was the slowest they’ve had in years.

Although this might be bad news for repairers in other parts of the country, some repairers are as nice about it as you’d expect from a Minnesotan.

“This has been a good time for us to get caught up and get customers in and out faster,” Mike Schoonover, owner of Schoonover’s Bodyworks and Glass, told KSTP. “It’s kind of a breath of fresh air.”

For the last two years, the body shop has had an eight-week backlog, but now they’re back down to three weeks, which they said is pretty normal.

The reason some cite for the lack of business is the absence of snow and ice this year, there for more drivable roads. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources described this winter in one journal as the "Lost Winter."

From the beginning of this year to March 6, there have been 200 recorded vehicle crashes in Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. In the same timeframe last year, there were 266.

In a phone call, Schoonover told FenderBender that he is not at all concerned about the profitability of this period, and he attributes this to the diversity of business services he provides.