Auto Glass Shop Turnover Rates Continue to Rise
December 17, 2012

by Casey Neeley, cneeley@glass.com

Several collision repair groups have announced new acquisitions and shop openings recently.

Gerber Collision and Glass, a subsidiary of the Boyd Group, has announced the opening of another Florida repair center. The shop, which Gerber has purchased, formerly operated as Colonial Auto Body.

Kim Allen, business development manager for Gerber, confirmed to glassBYTEs.com™/AGRR™ magazine that the deal was a company takeover, but did not include acquisition of Colonial's debts and financials. "It was an asset deal, but it was not a stock deal," says Allen. "We did buy all of the intangibles, such as the [company] name."

The addition of this shop brings Gerber's total number of greater Orlando-area shops to 14, its total number of Florida shops to 37 and its U.S. national number of shops to 180.

"We continue to grow our presence in Florida, as we open our 14th location in the Greater Orlando Area," says Tim O'Day, president and chief operating officer of the Boyd Group's U.S. operations. "We strongly believe that Florida is an attractive market for the Boyd Group. The new location on Amelia Street helps expands the Gerber brand and allows us to better serve customers and insurance partners in the Orlando metro market."

Gerber added 14 additional Jacksonville, Fla., locations under its Autocrafters acquisition finalized December 3 and 11 Florida locations with its acquisition of The Recovery Room November 16.

Minneapolis, Minn.-based ABRA Auto Body and Glass has also announced its acquisition of five Collision Solutions locations in Indianapolis, Ind. This deal brings ABRA's national presence to 132 repair centers in 14 states. "Acquiring Collision Solutions is an important part of accelerating our national growth plans," says Duane Rouse, president and CEO of ABRA. "Our long-term strategic goals are taking shape and we look forward to being an important part of the Indianapolis community."

"I was impressed with ABRA's approach to the acquisition process and their commitment to acquiring top quality facilities," says Aaron Clark, co-founder of Collision Solutions. "They also value the importance of developing employee talent and building a culture of ethics, integrity and teamwork. I know ABRA will be a great fit for our employees as our cultures are very much aligned."

ABRA finalized its acquisition of Schoonover Bodyworks and Glass in Stillwater, Minn., November 16.

Additionally, Lewisville, Texas-based Caliber Collision Centers announced the opening of a new location in Edmond, Okla., Friday. "Today's Edmond grand opening is the latest example of Caliber's continued commitment to provide additional capacity in markets that require the customer focus, operational excellence and cost management that Caliber consistently delivers to our clients," said Steve Grimshaw, Caliber's CEO, in a statement issued Friday.

"Our new Edmond location is Caliber Collision's third location in and around the Oklahoma City market," adds Mark Sanders, COO for Caliber. "We will continue to increase our market penetration in this and other southwestern U.S. markets in the months to come as we restore our customers to the rhythm of their lives."

Greg Clark, senior vice president of marketing for Caliber, confirms that this new opening is not an acquisition of an existing auto glass repair shop. "It was an old company building that we converted into a collision repair building; it's what we would call a brownfilled location, where we take a pre-existing building and convert it," says Clark.

What are your thoughts on the many acquisitions and shop openings which have taken place over the past three months? E-mail Casey Neeley at cneeley@glass.com with your comments.

This story is an original story by AGRR™ magazine/glassBYTEs.com™. Subscribe to AGRR™ Magazine.
Subscribe to receive the free e-newsletter.