Affordable options are available to repairers looking to renovate or turn their buildings into something special
Starting point
Budget-minded body shop owners contemplating renovation projects that won't break their budgets need to ask themselves a number of questions before construction commences and the dust starts flying.
"Trying to come up with realistic and affordable solutions for a business owner to follow to improve their facility isn't hard, but it is very personal to each situation," says business consultant Bill Krause at DuPont Performance Coatings. "My role is to understand each and every customer's situation and try to make the best recommendations that fit his or her goal and budget," he points out.
"Too many people want to fix marketing issues or production issues with brick and mortar," he cautions."First they must understand what it is they're trying to accomplish with the facility face lift. Is it to increase their door traffic by creating a facility that looks professional and inviting? Is it to accommodate the insurance companies providing their customers with a respectable business environment to send their customers? Is it to become more efficient in handling customers and making an impression on them about you and your business? Each of these reasons can be legitimate but the design features can be totally different," Krause says.
"My goal is to first uncover if the face lift is needed or just wanted by the customer. Either is fine, but typically a customer that just wants a face lift because they want one is more to satisfy a personal need rather than a business need," he adds.
"Once we have established the reason for the makeover, we need to really take a look at the basics," Krause says.
He explains, "First, address the first impression of the business. Can I see it from the street and can I tell what it is you do? Is the signage appropriate? Is the building clean, maintained and well lit? Is it easy to access or do I need signs showing how to enter the property? Is the sales office well-marked or easily identified? Is the parking lot is good shape, well marked and is there plenty of parking available for the customers? Is there an estimate space, stall, and location identified and easy for the customer to see? Does the sales office door look inviting? Is it a glass door or is it a solid door? People don't like to guess what's behind doors."
Krause goes on, "Do you have landscaping, and it is well maintained? Once I'm in the office, does it look well organized and would I feel comfortable? Is there a comfortable place to sit? Are the restrooms clean well maintained at all times? Are they as clean as yours at home and as nice?
Pondering these types of questions brings important understanding to any renovation endeavor, according to Krause.
"Many times the customer just wants to remodel for personal reasons," he continues. "The problem is good common sense and good housekeeping isn't as impressive as a total makeover – but ask yourself, 'What's the goal of the investment?'"
Krause continues on to stress to collision shop owners looking to renovate their buildings that "clean, efficient, functional design is cost-effective and should always be considered before the glass and granite approach. Paint and maintenance can do wonders accomplishing a new look. You can and will have the same impact on your customer base as a high-dollar rebuild at a fraction of the price."
A blessing in disguise
Tom Griffin underwent a religious experience of sorts when his landlord sold the vintage car dealership housing his Mayfield Collision Center in favor of tearing it down to construct a big-box drug store. Griffin moved the business down the road and established his business anew in a renovated Jewish party center, later converting the church next door into an office and customer reception facility that includes a three-bay wing dedicated to vehicle detailing.Located in South Euclid, Ohio, Mayfield Collision now brings in $4.3 million a year through the detailing and 24-bay repair operation. The church and party center were separated by an alley that now serves as a comfortable employee courtyard. "Considering it wasn't a 'master plan,' it turned out remarkably well for us," says Griffin, who at first had reservations about moving his office people under the steeple of the detached neighboring structure.
"It turned out to be a blessing in disguise," he explains, although the $100,000 church renovation project did present some significant design difficulties. "It wasn't as simple as taking out the pews and putting in some garage doors. It certainly had its challenges; there were some thick masonry walls that we had to contend with."
The result is an attractive office and waiting area positioned away from the hustle and bustle of the shop floor. "We figured out ways to make them work," says Griffin, describing how the two structures were melded into an efficient, thriving repair complex that practices lean production techniques.
Sited on a tight footprint with residential properties close by, "there's one way in and one way out" of the shop building – promoting an organized line of repair procedures, he notes. "We have body men helping painters and painters helping body men."
Although the party center and church renovations were accomplished through designs developed in-house, Griffin is getting welcome aid from Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes Corp. (SWAFC) as he plans a second repair center in another Cleveland-area suburb. Set to open in nine months, the new branch is being established in a former carpet store.
"It's ten times easier than it was in the past," he explains, citing the guidance being provided by the paint manufacturer's design team. They have even attended government zoning meetings to discuss the new facility. "The support Sherwin-Williams has given us is unbelievable," says Griffin. "It's been a welcome sigh of relief," he adds.
"We do 85 to 100 facilities a year," reports Judy Lynch, manager of the SWAFC's Collision Repair Design Service. The company's paint customers are charged a flat fee of $895 whether it's a six-week or 18-month project.
More than half of the clients are renovating an existing structure that was not previously used as a repair center. "We're like a consultant to our customers," she says. "They have to look at the entire operation and what they're trying to accomplish. Where does the owner want to be five or 10 years from now? We also put owners in contact with other owners who have like-facilities because the education process is huge."
Such was the case for Professional Collision Center in Virginia when it sought to open a second location in the town of Stafford. "There was a lot of work involved," recounts general manager Mike Graziano.
The company had purchased a former furniture store on the main road. The structure had seen better days in the past, yet it had an efficient basic footprint. "We wanted a rectangle because we wanted a shop where could walk in and see everything," he says.
The old loading dock in the rear may have been suitable for shipping recliners and sofas, but the parking lot had to be graded and paved to permit a smooth flow of vehicles into the bays. Half of the floor had settled about 18 inches, air lines had to be added and fire-suppression sprinklers installed. The electrical fixtures and plumbing had to be redone along with the heating, air conditioning and ventilation system.
The exterior of the existing structure had been aluminum, and the local government called for a Williamsburg-type look that Lynch was able to implement. "The county was very strict because they want to keep everything (in the community) uniform. They wanted a brick front, so we put up a brick facade," says Graziano.
The total investment amounted to $3.3 million, including the property, building and equipment. Moving into the Stafford facility has brought results in the form of $280,000 in monthly sales.
Looking at every inch
In Van Nuys, Calif., Valley Motor Center wanted a satellite facility to exclusively handle claims coming through its participation in GEICO's Auto Repair Express Program (ARX), which requires are four-day cycle time for damaged vehicles that remain drivable.
The building obtained had just 7,000 sq. ft. of production space and an office area encompassing an equally meager 800 sq. ft. "It was an older body shop – it was more of a 'hobby shop,'" according to general manager Mike Townley, who observes how the previous owner did no insurance work and seemed to conduct a limited number of repairs.
Meeting GEICO's production standards necessitated close attention to the details as the design process unfolded. "We had to take a look at every existing inch to make it more efficient," says Lynch.
"We did it over the phone and by e-mail," notes Townley as he describes how the planning took place. The end result was a drive-through paint booth and two preparation stations positioned off to the sides. "The flow works well; it's in one door and out the other."
The revamped location has been able to post an increased customer satisfaction index rating of 98.7 percent when the industry average is in the low 90s, according to Townley. "We're in the customer service business – we just happen to fix cars," he observes.
Toward that end, the office, waiting area and restrooms had to entail a top-notch presentation for its appointment-only client traffic. "We spared no expense on the front," Townley continues. "It's very important to have an attractive lobby. Most people expect to find a body shop dusty and dirty, and we make the customers feel comfortable."Granite tops on work surfaces help set the ambience. "Even our bathrooms have granite," he points out, stressing how a classy comfort station exudes a sense of excellence. "Quite frankly, we're known for our bathrooms."
New and different
"Clean and attractive restrooms are very important," concurs Armen Besnelian, whose Oxnard Collision Center also is in Van Nuys. He utilized BASF's VisionPLUS Facility Services to embark upon a renovation, which remains a work-in-progress as the interior is not yet completed, that is expected to cost $60,000 to $80,000.
"Armen caters mostly to higher end vehicles, and he needed his business to reflect that," explains BASF facility planner Ann Salazar.
"He wanted his business to stand out from the other shops on the street. I helped Armen with the design of interior office layout and exterior building facelift, color schemes and ideas for signage," she says. "We had to keep budget in mind, along with ease of the renovation to keep production flowing smoothly at the same time, on their very tight property. There are compromises, and we'd still have to deal with the reality of the neighborhood and the existing structures."
The confines and conditions presented a challenging design environment. "This is a fairly small sized shop located on a street with many body shops. One business blends into the next, typical of commercial districts built in the 1960s. Buildings are on zero lot line; no setback required by the city – good luck finding parking," Salazar muses. "That is, once you've accomplished the difficult task of locating a specific address out of a block of sardined buildings in dirty white, beige, gray or tan colors. That is a difficult task if you are driving down the street at the same time, looking out for pedestrians and vehicles pulling out of lots with no visibility of the sidewalk adjacent to them."
A main goal of Besnelian's was "to be more customer-friendly so when people come here they feel comfortable and they don't see a dirty body shop setup." He wanted to convey a sense of professionalism similar to a doctor's office rather than a typical auto repair facility. "It creates more trust and it leads to more profit."Besnelian, a BASF customer, talked extensively with industry colleagues and discovered that Salazar's name often came up as being the perfect fit to accomplish this project.
At the same time, Besnelian set out to develop his own personal concept of what he wanted to achieve. "I was looking for something new and different," he says. "I needed something different than the blue and white" color scheme that graced his existing building and a host of other body shops. "The same colors have been used for the past 20 to 30 years."
Thus began a quest to closely examine all manner of new construction within the region. "I looked at shopping malls and plazas – everything," he recounts. "A lot of it came from non-body shops. I thought, 'Why not bring that idea to the body shop?'"
"He envisioned something that looked like a classy villa in the hills of a Mediterranean village," reports Salazar, who assisted in refining the concept to match Besnelian's specific collision repair needs and the constraints presented by the property."
He notes, "There's a general tendency in this decade to use more and more of that style; it catches your eye," he asserts. "They're building new malls of Mediterranean style, and I just love that theme."
Conclusion: Home sweet home
These architectural options point to the fresh thinking and rich ideas available to those shops that do their homework. That homework can pay off in a big way as these shops have found.
