Many car audio shops are looking to branch out into new markets. If trucks are popular in your area, then it may be time to expand into the growing truck restyling market.
Truck owners tend to buy rather than lease, so they are more comfortable with upgrading their vehicle. And when a truck owner does upgrade, he spends an average about $5,000 by some estimates. These are two of the reasons Alpine Electronics is betting on the truck market with its new Alpine/Restyle strategy.
Car audio consultant Todd Ramsey has been recommending to his retail clients that they enter restyling.
“It’s important because we’re shifting gears from a time when teenagers bought their first car and then an audio system. The person spending money in the aftermarket is no longer the teenager. It’s the person who has discretionary income.”
MCOR is a retailer in Lutz, FL, which almost accidentally got into the truck restyling market. Owner Matt Meisenbach watched his orders grow from zero to 6 figures in restyling in 18 months. And he believes a retailer in the right market, can double its sales if not profits.
“The margins are huge, and at the installed price you usually double your money,” said Meisenbach. “We don’t get shopped on it [on the Internet] because shipping is what ends up killing the customers. They are not going to order 6 foot long nerf bars.” He adds, “You can’t just be a 12 volt shop anymore.” (MCOR’s garage is pictured above).
MCOR started out flipping cars and then went into window tint and then car audio. It then began selling to car dealers (and now works with 27 of them). One day one of the dealerships asked MCOR to install nerf bars on a truck. Meisenbach said he didn’t do that and the dealer told him to start, which launched the shop into restyling.
Meisenbach suggests starting with nerf bars and side steps, and truck bed covers. He doesn’t stock anything, but gets next day deliveries from distributors. Also WeatherTech floor mats are a big seller for him. “All these are very easy things to do that any 12 volt shop can [install]. That’s the biggest way to get into it, because then the customers start getting excited and will want to start adding things like rigid lights; that’s big market.” From there, dealers can use a third party shop to install 6-inch truck lifts, which then leads to sales of larger wheels and tires, he said.
Last fall, MCOR bought a franchise license for Rhino (spray-on bed lining for trucks), so no other shop in its tri-county area can sell the Rhino lining. Miesenbach said it’s proven to be a big business, bringing in more trucks, which then helps car audio sales.
Audio Designs & Custom Graphics of Jacksonville, FL is another dealer who got into restyling about 18 months ago. The category is already about 15 to 20 percent of its business and owner Darren Fettik thinks it will climb to 50 percent.
“We’re still moving into it. We’re adding chrome accessories, rims, side steps…” Fettik was looking for a new revenue stream. He started posting some vinyl graphics jobs and partial wraps on Facebook and YouTube. He has over 1,500 Facebook followers (after running a contest for a 46 inch TV from Costco) and he posts throughout each day. People started responding.
The shop does about $650,000 a year all told (all categories including audio) with 5 employees plus Fettik. He’s doing a lot of level kits (lifts a truck a few inches), and he’s starting to get into LED lights and light bars.
Audio Design is about to do its first full-car PlastiDip job (a less expensive alternative to paint with a rubberized coating). “We’re about to do one of our installers’ cars, a Fusion in anthracite gray and do the rims in copper and put a sign outside with the car that says ‘color changes for $650.”
Level kits cost about $250 installed and take 45 minutes to an hour to install. A Jeep lift costs about $650 installed.
Jeremy Lambertson of Driven Sound & Security in North Michigan does mainly restyling and accessories (and about 20 percent car audio). He suggested shops get into WeatherTech floor mats and claims he’s done $40,000 in business in the mats alone in the past 8 months. “As soon as word gets out that you are the place to go for WeatherTech, anyone who buys a new car,” is interested, Lambertson said.
Source: CEoutlook
I have been to MCOR and that place is amazing, and the staff is incredible !!!!!!!!!