Small Business Stories - Cover King

Ivy Hartman: Welcome to SBTV.com's coverage of the SEMA Show 2008 here in Las Vegas. I am Ivy Hartman, and with me is Dave Saunders who is the Vice-president of operations for Cover King. Dave, welcome to Small Business Television. David Saunders: Nice to meet you. Ivy Hartman: You know what; tell us what Cover King is? David Saunders: Well, we're a custom manufacturer. We make the seat covers, car covers, sun shields, floor mats, dash mats and rear deck mats, that are custom made to your obligation. So instead of going to the universal brand and buying that item, we actually make products that are actually tailored to fit your car. Ivy Hartman: So how does the consumer get a hold of Cover King and actually get their hands on some of your product? David Saunders: You can't buy directly from us, but we're advertised through I must say a major company, we're limited to certain people, but AutoZone, Pep Boys, Advance Auto, you can buy it from there, and then there is also your especially market catalogs, JC Whitney, Auto Anything, Keystone Automotive Group, and then there is all of those people like they own a Corvette, there is Corvette catalogs at Ecklers, and then America Corvette Central, West Coast Corvette, so if you have a Corvette, you can get it through those plus any other major brand we sell to. Ivy Hartman: And just look for the Cover King. David Saunders: Look for the Cover King Logo. Ivy Hartman: What brought you to the SEMA Show this year, and what do you hope to accomplish here? David Saunders: Well, the biggest thing is the awareness to people that there is another option other than the Universal stuff. We've been saying at the SEMA for 20 years as a company, so we get to the customers that we see, that we sell to face-to-face versus making special trips to go see them all, it's a nice place to see them all one time. Personally, I expect that the general public gets to come in on Friday, so we're out so we get to see the general public, so that they could see all of our new stuff. Ivy Hartman: I forget about that. I always think about the SEMA Show being limited exclusively to the industry professionals. Wow! I forget that Joe Q. Public can come in. Well, talk about launching the Cover King brand overseas. David Saunders: Couple of things, I mean most of the stuff over there has been universal for so long, and the overseas market has become a little bit backwards in the aspect that they haven't really had cars like we have here in the United States. So over there, there is places that have money and then there is places that don't have money. Now money is kind of exchanging around the world quite a bit, and everybody is starting to play on an equal playing field. So we've decided to launch our products overseas. Everybody, the cultures are different and different places in the world, and like here in the United States, when you go buy a new car, some of the first things that come to mind is obviously I need a car cover, I need a new set of floor mats, nice things we do. There is always adding the wheels and the exhaust hood, usually the top things to do. The overseas market like in Europe, they've always been a little backwards or shy and they ask back that now I bought a car, I store it inside, and that mentality is starting to change now. So we have decided to go overseas and launch our product, so far it's been pretty good for us. Ivy Hartman: Just to clarify for me Cover King fabricates the materials to make a custom fit cover to go on your car, is it a seat cover thing or is it all just the accessory or talk about the different lines of the products? David Saunders: Well, we do, we do car covers which we do in about ten different fabrics. We do an interior and exterior for storing your car indoors and outdoors, as far as that goes. We also engineered most of our fabrics we use. Ivy Hartman: Okay. David Saunders: So we are also an engineering firm. We also do seat covers which we do in about 65 different colors, and about 10 different fabrics which are all custom-done. So if you want anything from a leather, sort of seat covers that slip on to leatherette which is a man-made, to suede, to vinyl, to poly-cotton, to saddle blanket, to velour. We do all the different options there. Then we do two different options then like a sun shield with a Mylar coating on it which is a UV protection, very high rated. Then we're one of the few companies in the industry that we actually fabricate or manufacture, help engineer I guess I should say, our own floor mats. We actually do 40 and 70 ounce floor mat, and most of the other companies are between 22 and 32 ounce. Ivy Hartman: Interesting, that sets your part. David Saunders: So price-wise we're not necessarily really expensive, but we're also not a cheap company. Ivy Hartman: Well, as a business how does that help you by manufacturing the materials that you use in house and doing the engineering side, but also manufacturing the product. David Saunders: Well, because we supply the OE world too, the OEs ask for certain specifications for product, whether it be fire retardent, whether it be UV protection for the sunlight, whether it be -- give you one from overseas. Mercedes-Benz, they have $650 car. The car is only expected to be sold in two areas of the world, which is in Switzerland or Dubai. If you are going to sell the car cover for that particular car, you are going from one extreme of weather in Switzerland which is cold and moisture to Dubai which is extremely hot and dry. You have to make a car cover that will meet dust, moisture, breathability, water-resistant because there is no such thing as waterproof, because if you get a waterproof car cover, the best thing you could have is a piece of Saran Wrap or a piece of plastic, and then all it does is make the paint flake on your car, so absolutely brilliant. So for the quality, for quality, we have to watch our run, so for an engineering firm, that makes their own products, we can meet the specifications of not only the OE world and bring it to the African market but also we can control what comes in and out of our door. Ivy Hartman: Outside of this interview, how can people get more information about Cover King? David Saunders: Well, you can go to our website coverking.com. That's one place that you can get the majority of the information or mostly any major retailer. Ivy Hartman: Well, good luck at this year's SEMA Show Dave. Thanks for joining us here on SBTV. David Saunders: Thank you very much. Ivy Hartman: Keep it right here as we continue our coverage of the SEMA Show 2008 right here in Las Vegas.