09/17/2026
Iāve debated making this post for a bit. Gas prices raise over night and about the time I think they are going to stay they drop back down a bit. They are officially the highest Iāve ever seen. Iām sure they will break that record soon. This is not a political post, in fact any comments naming political parties at fault will be deleted. I make this post for our customers. I worry about the prices everyone will soon have to pay.
In June our foam went up 12-20% depending on what supplier you use. Our glue is a petroleum product much like the foam, vinyl, pretty much everything we use in a day so naturally it has gone up. Iāve never really posted about the processes we use daily, but for reference we order our glue in 5 gallon pails. We use it pretty much daily. Seat covers, foam lamination, headliners etc all require it. We did the math this week and a quart of glue is $10. Weāve been fortunate to have a fantastic supplier who does the best they can to give us the best shipping rates and competitive pricing on all the vinyl, headliner and shop materials we source from them. Shout out to Curtis Gantz and the crew at Keyston Bros.
I called recently and ordered some staples, while on the phone I priced stainless steel since we do a fair amount of marine work. $42 dollars a box. I about fell over. Not long ago we bought some for $20 something? Price has doubled. I say all this to say please donāt come at us. We donāt make millions. Any of your small business friends will tell you the same. There are 3 of us currently and we all took pay cuts to be here. Why in the world would we do this? Because we all got tired of working for āThe Manā. If youāve ever had the pleasure of meeting us š¤Ŗ we donāt do well with the drama or corporate crap that comes with a 9-5 office job so we stay. Besides the fact that weāre pretty darn good at what we do. We love this work. We love to see your dream interior come to life. We love to see grandmas chair look new again. We love to hear the stories of that old Camaro you bought when you were dating and now youāre taking grandkids for ice cream in it after we put the finishing touches on it with a shiny new interior. (True story š„°) No fat paycheck can buy the relationships we form with customers who become friends. Like Scott who knows we love peanut M&Ms and brings us the big bag once in a while when he stops to say hi š. Micheal who makes the hour drive from his home each year around Christmas to bring us peanut clusters. Mary who calls once in a while and offers a coffee run for us even though sheās busy snuggling NICU babies and helping others around her š Sheās always quick to tag us for friends looking for quality work. š«¶š»
If youāre still reading I appreciate you. I am nervous about what will happen to this industry. Hopefully for no reason. If you have a project that you want done but donāt have the funds to see the whole thing through right now we get it. Youād be surprised at how little I bring home as a business owner. Itās always been taboo to talk about finances but I built this business on honesty not some fake picture of a multimillion dollar business. Let us help you secure the materials before the prices go up. Let us answer questions about the process and figure out a plan. Let us help you get it done for a price you can live with. Sometimes we arenāt the answer at all. Sometimes we know a cheaper source. A cheaper option that doesnāt involve us at all. Just this week I helped a customer make a plan to repair his door panels without me. Didnāt make a dime. I helped another human being. Sometimes thatās all we do. Thatās the whole goal in life, to leave a positive legacy.
Have questions and afraid to sound dumb? Try me! Weāre here to help and we do it daily!
āļø 417-356-0913
