Staff Size: 8
Shop Size: 9,500 square feet
Number of Bays: 9
Average Monthly Car Count: 145
Annual Revenue: $2.4 million
Alex Noll opened ABR Houston European Repair Specialists around 11 years ago, following 11 years working with a BMW dealership. A decade after opening, ABR Houston relocated to a new facility at the beginning of this year, where it continues to provide service working on European cars—Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce, and Volkswagen.
Creature Comforts
Customers enter ABR Houston through two double doors before being greeted with leather chairs placed around a coffee table constructed from an old engine.
A coffee bar is fully stocked with sodas, beers, and wine for customers to enjoy while seeing the shop through windows at the back of the waiting room. A kiosk is in the center of the lobby.
The star of the waiting area is a dog named Bones: the shop’s client service representative. First found at ABR Houston’s original location around a decade ago, he became Noll’s pet, and now accompanies him to work every day.
“He just kind of harasses everybody to pet him,” Noll says. “He’s got business cards, he's on the billboard–and to me, he's advertising. So everything for the dog can get written off for advertisement.”
Efficiency is Key
ABR Houston houses a fully air-conditioned shop, a lack of which was the main motivation for the business to move.
It boasts nine BendPak lifts, an inground alignment machine, an 80-gallon ultrasonic machine, a Road Force Elite Balancer, and its most recent addition: a car pusher that has been customized to protect plastic-painted bumpers on European cars. It also supplies a 600-pound nugget ice machine and a large stereo.
All the lifts are equipped with 100-amp power supplies as well as air lines providing refrigerated air to prevent moisture in the air, along with dedicated landlines for programming.
“We really just tried to make it to where the technicians don't have to ever leave their workstation. And if they do, it's for a very short time,” Noll explains.
