Redmond, Wash.--At a time when some shop owners are pulling back from expansion plans, David Bourgeois is moving into a 10,000-square-foot addition to Queen City Auto Rebuild.
“We were running out of space, and the area that was our main body shop had a lot of posts, a lot of obstacles,” said Bourgeois, who along with his brother Steve became the second-generation owners of the business about seven years ago. Their sister, Debbie Borman, and Bourgeois' wife, Diana, also help oversee the shop’s office and accounting operations, he said.
“We’ve taken on more space in this building as other businesses went out, and this new portion was an open space that would allow us to rethink our layout,” he said. “We’re still in the process of refining that, but it’s definitely going to be a much better layout than what we had.”
Now with 30,000 total square feet, Bourgeois said he is also considering options for what to with the former body shop space but expects to move the shop’s buffing and detailing department there. The space will also give the company some additional indoor vehicle storage, something it can use given the number of high-end vehicles on which the shop’s 25 employees work, he said.
“We started out as a European vehicle specialist,” he said of the nearly 40-year-old company founded by his parents. “We solidified that as the only Audi-certified aluminum shop in Washington state. We are also Jaguar-certified and are getting Porsche certified.
Our specialties that we focus on are Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, BMW, Ferrari, Maserati and Subaru. We do a little of everything past that, but those are our core.”
The automaker certification requirements have not been inexpensive to meet, Bourgeois said. The shop created a separate aluminum-only workspace, for example, equipped with its own tools and the required Celette bench system, he said.
“But it’s a good relationship to be a part of,” he said. “I think Audi, for example, is doing really well, particularly relative to the other car makers out there right now. They seem to be pretty heavily advertised, and they’re building some great cars.” The certifications are also helpful in cementing good referral relationships with dealers, Bourgeois said, and in developing good name recognition among Audi and other car-owner clubs, something Queen City has worked to cultivate rather than insurer direct repair programs (DRPs).
“You can’t rely on insurance companies to send you business because that’s a fickle relationship,” he said. “We’ve never felt comfortable being a part of that. That’s not to say we won’t ever be a DRP, but we haven’t had to be yet.
“By signing a lot of those DRP contracts, I think some shops have gotten away from actually selling the customers on why they should bring their cars to them,” he said. “I think that has hurt some shops out there.”
Bourgeois said another good decision he thinks the shop has made is a recent switch to the Standox paint line through DuPont.
“I think they’ve put together a really good support team, and I’ve been really happy with what they’ve been able to help us do,” he said of DuPont, which sponsors a 20-group he’s joining led by trainer and shop Owner Mike Anderson. “They’ve really helped put us in touch with other business owners to share ideas and get some really good feedback.”
Bourgeois said one idea he gained from visiting other shops are the “hidden” areas he built around the perimeter of the new shop space, using 6-foot-high “false walls” to give each technicians an area for toolboxes and parts, helping give the larger shop space a more tidy, professional appearance.
Having spent time working in the hotel business, Bourgeois said he thinks he also brings more of a customer service mindset to the collision repair business, adding that the shop offers customers online estimate scheduling, and tracking of vehicles while in process.
Bourgeois said he doesn’t see compensation for repair keeping pace with rising customer expectations and would like to see some segmentation of both insurance and shops, similar to that in the hotel industry.
“I don’t think there’s any differentiation between those who have invested in training and equipment versus the shops who haven’t,” he said. “Insurers don’t want to pay us any more to fix an Audi A8 than they would the shop down the street, but that shop knows nothing about fixing that car.
“There are two-star and three-star hotels, and that’s not just based on price, but quality. So if you want to go to a five-star hotel, it’s not going to be the cheapest hotel.
“It would be nice if we could come up with some sort of grading system. If you want to go to a less expensive shop, that’s fine, and if you have bought a policy that entitles you to that level (of shop) and you want to take it somewhere else, you may have to pay the additional.
“But if you bought a premier insurance package because you own a nicer car and you want to have it repaired at a nicer place, you should be able to take it a higher-rated facility. I’d like to see something like that. I think that would start putting everyone on a more level playing field and allow people to compare apples to apples.”
Despite some of the downsides of the industry, Bourgeois said he feels good about the shop’s team and latest expansion.
“We have a real good staff, a staff that really cares about what they’re doing,” he said. “And we feel very fortunate that we’re staying busy despite the economy.”
