San Jose, Calif.—Sandra Douglas took over Lowe Paint Co., a 101-year-old business, in 1992, when the company was in bankruptcy, she said. After learning all aspects of the automotive paint business and putting effective systems into practice, Douglas, 44, said she has been able to build a solid client base and succeed for 17 years.
Douglas never intended to be in the paint business, she said, let alone run her own company. Her college major at San Jose State was in public relations, she said, and she originally worked for a PR firm in San Jose. When her ex-husband, a body shop owner, decided to buy the struggling paint jobber, it was a trial by fire, she said.
“It was a scary time,” Douglas said. “My initial plan was to get back into public relations, but the business kept growing, and before I knew it, I was basically stuck. Originally, the idea was to buy Lowe Paint just so we could purchase their inventory at a bargain price to use in our shop, but we eventually decided to start running the company.”
Lowe Paint Co. was a BASF/Color Source jobber back then, doing a lot of customization work for hobbyists, car clubs, and car shows, Douglas said.
In 2004, Lowe became a PPG Platinum jobber, Douglas said, and began selling PPG paint exclusively. “Our relationship with PPG has been excellent,” she said. “When we switched, it was like starting all over again. But, it’s been very good. Like any other jobber, we get discounts and other benefits for selling only PPG products. It’s a great product and their support is exceptional.”
Lowe Paint operates out of a 7,000-square-foot facility and employs eight people, Douglas said, including one controller, two outside salespeople, one inside salesperson, one counterperson, two paint mixers, and one delivery driver.
Lowe’s sells 40 percent of its paint to shops on a wholesale basis, with the remainder being on retail basis to walk-in customers, Douglas said.
“Our walk-in business comes from do-it-yourselfers and small one- and two-man shops,” she said. “Our wholesale customers are the larger shops and some fleets.”
The majority of Lowe’s work lately has been helping its collision repair shop customers convert to waterborne paint systems, Douglas said. Leading those efforts is Technician Pat Cubillos.
“The conversions have gone incredibly well,” Cubillos said. “We’ve converted approximately six shops and have 12 or 13 more on our radar awaiting conversion. We did our first one 14 months ago, but we’ve been getting the word out for over two years now. There will be some last-minute scrambling, but our goal is to get them all down by September.”
PPG has helped Lowe during every step of the conversion process with exceptional support and training, Cubillos said.
“Overall, it’s been a lot smoother than we anticipated,” he said. “With PPG’s new releases, updates, and software support, it’s been a fairly painless process. Envirobase, the PPG waterborne product, is great, which just makes things that much easier.”
Not every shop has embraced the change to waterborne, Cubillos said. “Our larger shops have adapted quickly,” he said. “But, honestly, some of the smaller ones are reluctant to change over. We’re telling them to do it now because the due date is quickly approaching, and we want them to have enough time to make the conversion.”
The only significant issues Cubillos said he has encountered with waterborne paint relate to color matching for older vehicles. “Some of the color matches aren’t available yet,” he said. “Late ’90s cars aren’t in the PPG system yet, but they’re adding new ones all the time. It hasn’t been too much of a deal because most of the shops we work with aren’t painting older cars anyway.”
Other aspects of a conversion involve drying times, airflow, and new spray guns, Cubillos said.
“Before we put any system in, we do a complete shop evaluation,” he said. “A big part of it is the environment of the shop. If there’s more humidity, drying times will be different. We lay all the groundwork prior to putting any equipment in the shop.”
PPG provides each shop with extensive training, including a one-day class at its training center in Concord, Cubillos said, followed by a half-day of on-site training.
Another part of the Lowe Paint story involves helping and supporting the collision repair industry through participation in organizations such as the California Autobody Association (CAA), Douglas said.
“We believe in what the CAA is doing,” she said. “I was on their board for four years because we value their efforts. In our industry, organizations like CAA are invaluable, and many shops don’t even realize it.
“I hear shop owners complaining all the time about the insurance companies, and I always ask them if they’re a member of CAA,” Douglas said. “If they’re not involved, they have no right to complain. I tell them that even if they don’t have the time to go to the meetings, at least pay the dues and help the organization fight for your rights, even if you can’t be there. ”
What does the future look like for Lowe Paint? “We’re definitely noticing a decline in business,” Douglas said. “But, we’re holding our own because we’ve been around a long time and have established some good wholesale and walk-in accounts.”
During tough economic times, marketing is more important than ever, Douglas said. “We’re more proactive than a lot of paint jobbers,” she said. “We do a lot of face-to-face outside sales, which has proven to be very effective.
“We also work with our local trade school, the Central County Occupational Center (CCOC), the CAA, local car shows,” she said. “We sponsor how-to clinics that have also been popular. And most of all, we stress customer service.
“There are a lot of companies out there selling paint,” Douglas noted. “The only way we have of differentiating ourselves is through better customer service.”
