STORE STATISTICS: McCart Automotive Center Location: Conyers, Georgia. Owner: Kelly mccart Average monthly number of cars: 175 Total staff size: 6 Shop size: 5,600 square feet Number of elevators: 6 Annual revenue: $ 740,000
Stand out from the crowd
In 2018, the McCart Automotive Center in Conyers, Georgia was a blurry background. As a decidedly indescribable tanning structure alongside a series of other indescribable tanning companies, nothing from McCart’s stood out.
“We kept hearing, ‘Oh, I’ve been around here for years and never noticed you,’ says owner Kelly McCart. “Even when we got referrals at the gate, they would be surprised. We were fully integrated.
McCart got to work on a plan and spent the next 18 months crafting a renovation strategy designed for curb appeal.
Total transformation
McCart designed the new look for the store himself, then hired a contractor to secure the permits and carry out the design.
Part of the store front was removed and rebuilt in a single day to create a faux wood focal point and a new integrated window to allow in more natural light and give staff greater visibility to the front of the store.
A sleek matte front door canopy and new spotlights have also been added to grab attention, while inside fresh coats of paint, vinyl decals, and new signage have been added for match the new exterior look of the store.
New look. New brand.
McCart planned every element of the remodel intentionally and extensively to coincide with a complete rebranding of the store (which previously operated under the names McCart’s Auto Sales and McCart’s Pro Auto).
He hired his nephew, a graphic designer, to write a simpler boutique logo and chose an electric green as the color for the store’s new brand. “I wanted the new logo to stand out, but that green also pairs really well against a dark background,” says McCart. Slate gray paint was used for the store’s new look, “but this dark background is also useful on things like uniforms when you’re a tech and don’t want to show everything you’ve got on you -” even that day, ”he says. “Much of those 18 months was spent thinking about these little details.”
An investment with impact
With the ultimate goal of building brand awareness, McCart says the remodel was well worth the ROI, regularly attracting new curious customers.
“Now people stop all the time and one of their first questions is always about conception,” he says. “We’re 40 miles from Atlanta, but we still hear how much of a boutique operation we now look like you’d see in town, not on the outskirts of town. We turn heads.
