“Slow but steady” has been the philosophy guiding the expansion of Carriage Shoppe. The Fort Collins, Colo., collision repair shop opened in 1982 with just 5,200 sq. ft. About 12 years ago, owner Stephen Mecham moved the shop to a 12,000-sq.-ft. facility nearby. Then, two years ago, the shop acquired an adjacent building and expanded to 20,000 sq. ft. “All you can do is go slow,” says Mecham, an ASE master technician. “20,000 feet is as big as a single guy can get. After 22 years, I’m three times of what I started—it isn’t like I got real big real quick.”
The first move, Mecham admits, was difficult on him and the business. “When you move locations, it’s a lot of work to move every piece of equipment you have,” he says. But the second expansion was a breeze. Part of the reason is the shop didn’t have to relocate—it merely took over the 8,000-sq.-ft. facility next door. The adjacent building used to house a welding company, so the collision repair facility was an easy fit. Carriage Shoppe didn’t even have to shut down. The collision center is in the new building, so the construction workers simply tore down the wall between the two buildings and moved the frame machines. The door was cut on a Friday, and they had moved in by Saturday. Mecham advises other collision repair shop owners to expand on site if at all possible.
In addition to taking advantage of slow expansion, Mecham has maintained a close knit staff. His wife Lynn, a graduate of Wyoming Technical Institute in Laramie, Wyo., serves as co-owner of the business and also works as an estimator. The Mechams’ daughter, Katie, has worked for six years in customer service. “It’s a family environment,” says Lynn Mecham. “We’re all here working 40 hours a week.”
During the 20 years that Carriage Shoppe has been in business, the automotive industry has undergone significant changes, and the Mechams have been forced to reevaluate their repair processes. “The biggest thing in the last few years is that cars are getting a lot harder to work on,” explains Stephen Mecham. “Cars are so much more complex, and the way they’re put together is much more advanced. Nothing can be off at all or nothing’s going to work. In the 1970s you could make things fit, and now there’s not that option.”
However, the I-CAR Gold Carriage Shoppe has managed to keep up with the evolving industry through purchasing the latest technology. Investing in computerized frame machines, downdraft bake ovens and compression-release spot-welders has helped Carriage Shoppe adapt to the precise standards of today’s sophisticated vehicles. “The spot-welder cuts a lot of time and makes the car look more original than it does if you’d have to plug-weld one,” Mecham says.
Still, Mecham sometimes struggles to fit all the pieces together, especially finding technicians who really care and can repair vehicles as close as possible to their pre-accident condition. With today’s precise equipment, any attempt to cut down on the time a project takes or cut corners sacrifices the quality of the repair job. “Guys can’t do the hours they did 10 years ago,” Mecham says. “The frame machine gets you exact, but now you can’t cheat. You have to get it back exactly perfect, so it takes more time. Every year they get a little more precise, and it is getting harder to do. If you start saving too much time, something’s bound to go wrong.”
In the Mechams’ quest for perfection, they added an estimating room to Lynn Mecham’s office because of the high volume of hail damage estimates she writes annually—a result of the variable Colorado weather. She says the vehicles need to be away from direct and indirect sunlight for her to accurately assess the damage.
Also, the shop is kept as clean and dust-free as possible. “We are firm believers in the dustless system, trying to keep the environment as clean as possible,” says Lynn Mecham. The floors are painted to keep dust down—the smooth, painted surface shows dirt more readily than a bare cement floor, and it’s easier to sweep and wash—and once a week a cleaning company cleans and polishes the floor. Mecham says they have a responsibility to their employees to “keep everyone healthy and happy” and to make sure the air is safe to breathe.
Both owners say the biggest obstacle they face these days is insurance companies. As more responsibilities have shifted to the shop owners when dealing with DRPs, the Mechams’ office employees have been forced to take on more and more of the paperwork.
“Every year they give you a little more to do,” Stephen Mecham says. But the Mechams have used technology to their advantage in this case as well. They e-mail photos of the vehicles to the insurance companies and stay in touch with customers via e-mail.
If the technology is there, Carriage Shoppe will find a way to use it to better service its customers.
