Alan and Kathy Ivey, owners, and the employees of Auto Body Supply received the Collision Automotive Repair Services (CARS), Inc. "Simply the Best" Award Oct. 26, 2010 at their store in Springdale, Ark. CARS is an at-cost cooperative that allows body shops to come together to have increased purchasing power with their suppliers.
The award recognizes jobbers who have gone beyond their normal day-to-day operations to become a leader in their field in terms of customer service.
Auto Body Supply has been in business for 20 years. The staff of eight maintains a customer base of 60-70 throughout the Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma area.
The Iveys are firm believers that being service oriented is a key to their success. They say that this attitude causes a strong relationship between employees and customers. The Iveys say their organization is more of a family than a business.
Auto Body Supply opened in 1990 as a 1,500-square-foot warehouse and has now expanded to 4,500-square-foot warehouse and a mobile demonstration trailer they can take to collision shops with their full paint store on board.
They also have a delivery fleet of four trucks that have daily routes every week.
Auto Body Supply received the award at a luncheon at their store from Matt Boyles, operations director of CARS, Inc.
Auto Body Supply has been a member of the Jobber Support Network for CARS since 1998. In regards to CARS, they feel that the cooperative is a win/win situation for body shops and jobbers.