If you say the first phrase in S&S Paint and Body instead of the letters, it comes out a little like “shh” -- which aligns well with how quietly it has bought two Oklahoma collision centers in eight months.
The Oklahoma City-based newly minted MSO in September bought Southwest Collision Center in Ardmore, and on April 15 closed on Auto Craft Body Shop in Norman.
“I’m going to keep doing this,” said Joe Jilge, who now co-owns all three with an investor.
This puts Jilge in the company of other smaller, state-focused, independent MSOs like Nebraska’s Levander’s Body Shop or Eustis Body Shop, or Missouri’s Mr. Dent.
The three legs of his stool for buying are seller, size and “sweat equity,” he said.
So far he’s bought smaller shops with motivated -- retiring -- sellers. The last two purchases have essentially been the land and assets, he said. The two combined crack low, single-digit millions on investment, including the land and several hundred thousand dollars of refresh and equipment.
“Norman doesn’t need anything, but Ardmore needed upgrading and updating,” Jilge said.
As to size, Jilge looks for between 7,500 and 12,000 square feet. Ardmore is 9,000 square feet and Norman is 7,500. The original S&S started at 5,000 square feet and is now at about 12,000.
The sign outside the second of two recent acquisitions that have made S&S Paint and Body a new regional M
Small is Sensible
“I didn’t want big mega-shops,” Jilge said. “Once you get it that big you have to feed it. Smaller shops are easier to manage, with better quality people.”
He has about two dozen employees across the three shops.
Small shops with upside and owners driven to depart is reflected in Jilge’s start, though he didn’t know it then.
He bought the Oklahoma City shop on Valentine’s Day 2019. It was doing $350,000 a year in 5,000 square feet. He bought the assets, and the seller carried paper on the deal.
Jilge built that up to $1.5 million over about two years, then bought a machine shop -- he didn’t own the land under that first location -- and moved S&S there in 2022.
“We reworked and cleaned it up,” Jilge said of that third leg of his growth plan, following motivated sellers of small shops: hard work. He’s posted social media photos, for instance, of his people pouring the concrete for a new paint booth at one location.
The original shop now runs about $3 million a year in revenue. And it has 4.25 acres of land. The business began in the 1970s; Jilge is its fourth owner. He’s been in the industry since 2000.
Focus Continues in Running Them
“Started as a helper, went to painter for seven or eight years, worked my way up to the office,” he said, where he spent the next decade learning the business side. Part of his time was at one of his acquisitions, Auto Craft, in Norman.
Joe, wife Krista, new baby Henley Jo, and son Owen.
All locations are non-DRP; Jilge is pursuing OE certification.
“Norman had State Farm but with the acquisition they put us on hold,” Jilge said, and he doesn’t plan to re-up.
All three locations are up and running -- indeed, the two acquisitions stayed that way through the transitions.
Naming decisions depend on common considerations: market and reputation. One thing all the shops get is a red and white exterior color scheme.
He’ll stick to Oklahoma for now, where he’s also active in the Oklahoma Auto Body Association (OKABA) and the industry: monitoring legislation and apprenticeships, for instance.
“I grew up in this industry,” he said, “started in votech in high school, then on-the-job training.” He said tech training is important because “they come from these big shops with some really bad habits.”
His social media vibes local and personal, posting on power outages, introductions after acquisitions, weather conditions affecting business or driving, and OKABA.
Auto Craft’s former owner Jeff Dean was repped by sell-side brokers Cody Wellington and Corey Selenski of Matthews REIS.
Paul Hughes