What do you think about this idea?

[The Fuzz]

Has anyone ever thought about this idea? Its been on my mind lately and I thought I would bounce it off of y’all. I'm not one of the world's greatest thinkers so this might be a dumb idea. I thought I'd tell it to you guys anyways.

My thought is of an auto care universe kind of place. You know how there are those large Family Center kind of places that have a Ross and a Petsmart and a Circut City and a restaraunt and a dollar store all that share the same parking lot? Surely you know the kinds of places I mean. I was thinking it would be cool to have a car care center like that with a detail shop, oil change place, tire store, PepBoys kind of place, and like a tint shop or aftermarket performance shop or something like that. Maybe a Harley shop or something. If you had all those kinds of stores in one place then imagine the kind of business you could get in there. Especially if one person owned the detail shop and oil and lube shop. They could even own the aftermarket store on the side. It would draw people in from all over the place I think. What do you guys think about that?

This idea first came out of seeing a detail shop that had a Jiffy Lube attached to the side of it. I thought, Daymn!!! what a great idea!! Sell them an oil change and ask them if they’d like to run through a professional detail while they have a coffee in the air conditioned lobby with the TV and newspaper and stuff. Then I thought about expanding it to the aftermarket shop. While their Civic is being washed they can cruise through the catalog of aftermarket fart cans or nearly burnt out fuses for their blinkers. Maybe they could walk over to the tire store and look for some new rims or something. There is something for everybody!! If nothing else it would give people something to do while they wait for their car to be detailed. The thing that sucks about leaving your car at the shop is the wait to get your car back. Not everybody has 2 hours to sit around and wait. If you had the detail shop in a plaza like that then people who had other things to shop for would have plenty to do while they wait. Kind of a good idea don’t you think?

 

[Tassadar]

Now that would be a true car heaven. Detailing the 1967 Gt500 while the ricers stare at the fart cans and the aftermarket shop is fitting a Mustang Cobra with a twin turbo setup. Id never want to go home!

But really, if such a place exists, where is it. Im moving there, even if I ahve to sleep in a cardboard box and wash with the hose in the detail shop.

 

[Scooter]

We have a couple of places similar to this in my area. They usually have a tire shop, quick lube of some kind, and tranny shop, Stereo shop, and maybe a small upholstery shop and body shop. ONly one has a detail shop in it ouof the three I can think of rightoff hand, and none of the shops is "fabulously" successful. Some of the guys are lucky to be making 30K a year. If you want to do something like this, I can probably make a few suggestions to make it successful.
1. Have a cooperative order writer. (one guy writes the orders for all of the shops) That way, he can keep track of what is done, and what needs to be done. Pay him about 5% of the gross, and see what kind of salesman he can be. He would also be responsible for collecting the money from the customer. With this arrangement, you would still have to keep track of what you are making to keep the order taker honest, and to make sure that he is not adding a little bit extra for his services.
2. Do a lot of cooperative advertising. Don't have a go it alone mentality when doing something like this. You would all need to grow together.
3. Make sure the place is always spotless.
4. Locate it in a neighborhood with a higher economic profile. Depending on your area, somewhere where the homes start at around $200,000 in most areas, and $500,000+ in the more expensive areas like LA and New York.
5. Make sure that no one else offers the same services in the complex.

Give me some time, I can come up with some more ideas on it.

Scooter

 

[TMiller]

what do you think about this idea?

It's funny you say this....I was thinking the same thing. Kinda Like an "Auto Spa" The "plaza" would pamper your vehicle from bumper to bumper. If the ritzy people in L.A. and Beverly Hills spend thousands on their little "Fifi", then why not treat your vehicle to the same treatment!!!

 

[Ferrarislave]

They have those around here Its called Car boutique they have Detailing and other stuff like car mods and other performance upgrades and audio installs Etc.