May 2011 The Paint Spot Newsletter

I purposely waited until after our grand opening celebration to write this newsletter, knowing that it would be eventful. Let me tell you, it was a smashing success! I want to thank each and every one of you for participating. It is you, customers of The Paint Spot that not only made this event possible, but you proved that there is a need to interact directly with the manufactures. There is a wealth of knowledge that only those people possess and this was the means and opportunity for you to receive that knowledge first hand. It is for these reasons that I have decided to make this an annual event, yeah, I know, we can't have a grand opening every year, but we can have a customer appreciation celebration! There will need to be some changes to this event, like getting a real P.A. system, and more beer. I'm sorry if ya ll had a tough time hearing me on Suzanne s daughters karaoke machine, but it was all we had. I had wanted to talk to you all over the P.A., but since it wasn't loud enough, I decided to write it in this newsletter. Although we called the event a grand opening, we actually started The Paint Spot in 2006, and The Company started in this exact location. The way that happened is that when I had inquired about Matrix paint to replace the PPG paint that I had always used at Canyon Color Body & Paint (now known as Slix), the rep accidentally stopped at this location looking for me (since I owned this bldg and it had a small banner on the front that said canyon color body & paint) he was told that I could be found at the other location. Because he now new that I owned a bldg that he considered a store front , he offered me not only a good alternative to PPG, but an opportunity to be a Matrix distributor as well. That mans name was Doug Davidson , and you guys probably met him at the Lusid booth. Doug was the guy that got me my start in this business, and although he no longer works for Matrix, we're still friends as he is now with Lusid and we have their line here as well. When we started The Paint Spot I was by myself and already busier than hell painting cars at Slix. Later, I met Rebecca (my wife) and she would come down here to sit by the phone that rarely ever rang while I worked at Slix until it became too much of a waste of time to even bother. I decided to put what little there was of The Paint Spot in a bldg right next to Slix so I could jump back and forth when needed. That continued to 2009. Up till that time if you knew I had paint and wanted it, I d sell it to you, and if you didn't then I didn't care. I made my living the same way you guys do .I painted cars! Let's face it; I really didn't know what the hell I was doing! My son Shawn grew up and got good at what I had always done and I saw the opportunity to break away and try my luck at The Paint Spot.

In May of 2010 I was delivering a small order to Mcqueeny RV and feeling pretty bummed out about the lack of sales and Thomas picked up on it and gave me the Idea of doing these newsletters. That was a year ago and because of that man, my life (and the life of The Paint Spot) has completely changed. These things are what has lead us to where we are today, and can you see what they are? They re all people things. Suggestions, opportunities, passion, problems, solutions, and dedication, and on my side, stubbornness, and being unwilling to accept things just because everyone else does, or that's the way it's always been. A year ago I said I intend to change the world one body shop at a time, and a year later we're well under way and everyone has benefited. The Paint Spot has grown over 400% in the last year (during a recession no less) and that's why we had the event. You all are the ones that made it possible. It is you who got us to where we are and I am forever in your debt.

There are five full time employees who all have families that all of you are providing a living for, and we damn well appreciate it. This replaced the years that Slix supported The Paint Spot and at times to the point that Slix damned near went broke, and all because I believed in what I was doing and you believed in me. You gave me the clout to be able to get in suppliers face for better pricing, get my hands on better products, and compete with people that thought they had it all sewed up. Instead of spending our revenue on a fancy life style for myself, I put every dime back into The Paint Spot, to this day; I have never received any pay from this company, not one penny! Although my son runs Slix now, it still pays my personal bills, and The Paint Spot pays its. I am hell bent on paying bills early and try to never carry any open balances with our suppliers. This also helps in them being there for me whenever I need them. Often times someone will ask me how I can make any money if I don't charge a delivery fee to cover fuel, or why I don't charge for helping someone with body or paint work. The answer is simple, it's not money that motivates me, it's knowing that I am making a difference ..A real difference! No matter how much I do for free in one of your shops, I always seem to have the money to pay our bills, so when you hear from one of our competitors that they can't do this and they can't do that, know this for certain

Haywood Evens (a personal friend) he s the pig roaster from hell. He comes from N. Carolina and was here at 5:00 a.m. to start the pigs. Johnna Lea (our sales rep), she is a firecracker that does whatever it takes, and won't stop until it's done. Her tireless commitment to what is right astounds me. Johnna s mom (Marie) and dad (Johnny), they drove up from Vider Tx. To cook all the good stuff and served as well (now I know where Johnna gets her energy! Suzanne Robinett (office mgr. Paint Spot) sign in, raffle and beer tickets and coordination of the event. Suzanne is a one in a million employee who is not afraid to take the bull by the horns , and does it on a regular basis. David Benavediz (life long friend and driver for The Paint Spot) served beer, directed parking, and helped set up the event. Casey Butts (driver Paint Spot) directed hot rod parking, meat cutting, assisted vendors. Cheyenne Ciotti (my 16 year old daughter), designated photographer. The Slix crew directed parking and did whatever it took to accommodate all who attended. My beautiful wife Rebecca Ciotti (the love of my life) served food and drinks, and actually took time off from work to be here. Me, I raffled prizes and answered more questions in one day than I usually do in a year. Matrix (Brian Lynch) custom paint demo and problem solving. For those of you that didn't see the final outcome of Brian s work, we have it on display at the store. The endless line effect was especially cool for me, as I have not seen that kind of custom work since the 60 s.

Lusid Technologies (Travis and Doug) represented Northstar, GenStar,Gen2o, GenTech products, Iwata (Chris) represented the Iwata line, Indasa (Dennis) represented Indasa abrasives, RSI (Danny, Kirby, Bill, Dave) represented Norton, Devilbiss, CPS, SAS. An extra special thanks to Bill Brooks (RSI) as he personally took the lions share of the responsibility in this event. He is a can do type guy and I owe him a lot for our success. Transtar (Mario) represented the Transtar line (one of our newest lines), Your Parts Locator (Kieth) an invaluable tool for body shops. He is a guy that I have known and used for many years at Slix. Make a call to him, he ll find, get, and deliver, all your LKQ or after market parts (at a smoking deal) while your busy doing what you do best. Atcoa Viking Karl Selander , a long time personal friend and founder of the original Atcoa Viking Co..

Back in 1980 or 81, I had a shop in So.Cal. And had an old Atcoa Viking that needed repair. I called and got a hold of a guy named Karl. He was located in Pasadena Ca. which was about 20 miles from my shop. He came out to the shop, picked up the tool, took it back and rebuilt it. A week later he came out with it and told me the story of how everyone and their old lady was copying his Atcoa, but especially Rodac that had actually put the Viking name on their copy. He was involved in a slew of lawsuits against the counterfeiters and it no doubt was expensive. In 1989 I sold that shop, went back into the printing business, and it wasn't until 1996 when I opened Canyon Color in Canyon Lake Texas, that I had any need for any of my old tools from the body shop. I went to use my trusty old Atcoa Viking (the same one that Karl had rebuilt so many years earlier) and it was froze up. After a long and exhausting search, I finally tracked down a phone number of some unknown person who was said to know something about that particular tool, I called, and low and behold ..it was Karl! That s not all, he lived in Canyon Lake Texas, right through the woods from my shop (about 250 yards)! Talk about fate! He came right over and informed me that Atcoa had gone out of business several years earlier due to the expense of fighting for what was rightfully his all along. He decided to give it all up and retire and relocate to another part of the country (right here). He said that he had a few parts left over and he would try to fix my tool as a favor to me. I told him I would pay him whatever it was worth, and that I was sick and tired of trying to use Hutchins, ingersol Rand, and plenty of cheap pieces of shit that I had tried in an effort to replicate what I knew the Atcoa Viking would do. We rekindled an old friendship since then, and every time I saw him we would talk about the in line sander. About a year ago, at the ripe old age of 82 Karl came to me and informed me that he was putting the company back together because there was a need for the original. Between me and him, we probably had 25 of the originals (we would pick them up at swap meets and yard sales whenever possible and use them for parts if nothing else) but they were getting scarce. I'm probably not supposed to tell this part, but Karl had been getting all the cheap copies from me and where ever else he could find them, taking them apart, and documenting all the reasons why they looked like the Atcoa, but couldn't hold a candle to them. On one occasion, I had bought a copy from Mac Tools ($259.00), it lasted 3 hours, I returned it, the salesman (Mark Burly, Mac Tools) told me it couldn't be fixed, and he replaced it. I had it in the box (never used) and Karl saw it and said can I borrow it for about a week . I said sure, and a week later he brought it back and said try it now . I did and said to him what the hell is this, it feels like an Atcoa . He said it is ! Karl took the ingersol Rand apart, remachined it, and stuffed Atcoa Viking parts into it, but the outside was clearly an Ingersol Rand, complete with the name plate (a little counterfeiting of his own, but for all the right reasons). Karl gave me full rights to sell the Atcoa Viking from a Jobber level, and I am the only Jobber in the WORLD! Our price on it $249.00. If you want an original, the only other way you can get one is to buy it from a Jobber that has bought it from a certified warehouse! (And I'm sure they will be more expensive) He tried to get them completely manufactured in the U.S. but the tool would have to sell for $1100.00, so China was the only viable option (that's what the damn unions have done to this country), so their Manufactured to Karl s specs in China, and assembled here. There are several improvements to the new one, and one of them is color. He asked me to spec the new color and I choose Candy Brandywine , and actually painted the first one personally (that's the one I raffled off at the Grand Opening). Karl was scheduled to be here but due to health issues, he couldn't. Sorry about getting off track, but I love the man dearly and I had to share that story. Back to the acknowledgments .. Granzins meat market Jason (the two pigs), Liquors at the lake Justin (the keg beer). An extra thanks to all the suppliers for their support and the give away items. A big thanks to all of the shops and their crew!!!!!! There was 261 of you guys and I hope you took something away from this besides door prizes!!!!!