Auto repair shop owners didn’t choose new location by accident

It’s no accident Paul and Donna Bates chose a spacious two-story building on Bradford Road as the newest location for their 21-year-old family-owned collision repair and paint shop.

The new shop, located off Brandy Road, is four times the size of the previous Braggs Corner Road location.

Situated on 31,000-square-feet, the new shop is able to accommodate the entire Bates Body & Repair shop under one roof including the body shop, prep area, paint shop and detail area.

It’s clear the community approves because the Culpeper County Chamber of Commerce awarded Bates Body & Repair Inc. with the 2009 Most Improved Small Business location recognition during the Culpeper County Chamber of Commerce awards ceremony held on Nov. 5.

“It’s quite an honor to be recognized by the community,” said Paul, sitting in an upstairs office last week. “The community has flat out gotten us where we are today. Culpeper is a great place to live and it’s great people in Culpeper. Donna and I both feel honored that they recognized the steps that we took.”

Jim Charapich, president and CEO of the Chamber, said there were excellent nominations this year and the vote was close.

“The investment in this project and the significant improvement to the business were important considerations,” Charapich said via e-mail last week. “The scale and quality of the improvement is impressive considering the challenges in today’s economy. This expansion, improvement, and investment are a bright example of confidence in our community.”

Making do
Paul says the services that he offers weren’t always located under one roof.

The Braggs Corner Road location — where the business stood for nearly 18 years — had four separate, small buildings: A body shop, paint shop, detail area and an auto parts shed, totaling about 7,900 square feet.

“In the winter when it was snowing and raining and a car was ready to be painted we had to drive down to the other building and drive it back up to the body shop and put it together and drive it to the detail bay,” Paul explained. “And the parts man had to walk out in the rain to get his parts. It was like 100 yards between the buildings.”

Now, the new shop can hold up to 40 cars in one facility.

Paul said he couldn’t have afforded to purchase the new building 20 years ago.

“So we made do with what we had, converting an office building into a makeshift body shop and putting up what we thought would work as a paint shop,” Paul said.

When it came to finding the new location, Paul, 45, and Donna, 43, said they put a lot of thought into what they wanted.

“We actually designed it based off of a proven collision center footprint,” Paul explained. “This building was actually designed as a collision repair facility. So it’s got some sort of flow in it. The vehicle never has to back up. It’s like a big horseshoe.”

On average, a $2,500 repair job takes about eight to nine business days, according to Paul. The company has a total of 15 employees including Paul and Donna.

Paul says his employees really enjoy the added space.

“They’ve got room to work,” he said.

Donna agrees.

“We all have our own offices now,” said Donna whose office is down the upstairs hall from Paul’s office.

On the main level, all of the estimators have their own offices where they can meet and discuss cost with customers privately.

“They can sit down on a one-on-one basis and fully explain to you up front what we’re going to be doing to your car,” said Paul.

Donna said another perk for customers is the portico at the front entrance of the shop.

“If it’s raining, they never have to get wet,” she said. “Before we couldn’t do estimates in the rain or snow. ”

About Bates Body & Repair
Owners: Paul and Donna Bates
Location history: Opened in Brandy Station in 1988; moved to Braggs Corner Road location in 1990; moved to Bradford Road January 2009
Employees: 15
Services provided: Auto collision repair, paint, detail, glass replacement, light mechanical repairs and 24-hour towing