AUTO TRIM DESIGN SERVES WANTS IN ACCESSORIZING AND DECORATING

Taking care of "wants" instead of needs has helped Dillard Dale, 57, build a multimillion-dollar business with Auto Trim Design.

He and his wife, Patricia, have owned the Cape Girardeau company at 807 Enterprise for eight years.

The business started in 1976 and Dale was the first employee hired in early 1977. At that time, the company added striping and body moldings to vehicles at car dealers in a 100-mile radius over two states. This service was about 90 percent of the business then.

Auto Trim Design now covers parts of four states in about a 200-mile radius, Dale said. He opened a second store in Marion, Ill, in late 1992, catering to an increasing amount of retail business, which is about 50 percent of the total now.

Accessories, such as radios, cruise controls and running boards, are a larger part of the business now. About 70 percent of the sales now relate to pickups, Dale said.

"People like to make their pickups look distinctive," Dale said.

"Specializing and personalizing each vehicle to the fit the customer's wants is the neat part of this business," he said. "Customers and vehicles are not alike so we try to fit the customer's taste -- whether it's accessories or graphics."

Dale's wife works part-time in the business. Their son, Roger Dale, is the shop manager at Cape Girardeau and their daughter, Chrissy Wright, is the receptionist.

The company has 42 full-time employees with 15 service trucks on the road. Twenty-five people work out of the Cape Girardeau site, which includes the office and two installation and storage buildings. Two people work at the Marion store and another seven employees work at three boat manufacturers in Southern Illinois.

The company started decorating boats in the early 1980s, Dale said. Last year was good for the marine industry, and he expects 1995 to continue that trend.

Sales during the last fiscal year ending Sept. 30 were $3.5 million, a 26 percent increase from 1993, Dale said. He hired three to four people last year and anticipates adding two more this year.

Dale expects at least a 15 percent increase in sales during this fiscal year. For the first quarter of the year ending Dec. 31, sales were up 27 percent from the year before.

"Business is good," Dale said. Lower interest rates help his business, which is heavily dependent on vehicle sales. Even with the recent rise in interest rates, purchases have been affected very little, he said.

His business strives for repeat customers by giving them what they want. Some of his best customers are men in their 40s with established positions who can afford to fix their vehicles like they want. Many of his women customers are customizing their larger utility vehicles, particularly with running boards.

Two of the most popular items now are decorative rear-deck spoilers for cars and fiberglass running boards, which can be color matched, for pickups. The company sold about 100 sets of the running boards in 1993 and more than 400 last year. The running boards make it easier to get into a pickup and also keep dirt and rock chips off the sides.

The phone is the lifeblood of his business, Dale said. The company has seven phone lines and an 800 number at its Cape Girardeau site. Scheduling for about 80 percent of the installers' work is handled by one employee at the Cape Girardeau office. Installers also add to their sales by calling on potential customers, Dale said.