Alex Fees: I’m Alex Fees on sbtv.com. We’re coming to you from the floor of the Las Vegas convention center at Sema 2007. That’s Sema, Specialty Equipment Market Association and joining me here now is David Stevens. Dave is the owner of Dave’s valley custom upholstery in Lyndon California.
Dave Stevens: Right.
Alex Fees: I did that right David?
Dave Stevens: You’ve got it.
Alex Fees: How are you doing sir?
Dave Stevens: Alright.
Alex Fees: I appreciate you being here.
Dave Stevens: No problem.
Alex Fees: Well Dave, tell me about your company, you’ve been at this awhile.
Dave Stevens: A couple of days yeah, the company’s been in existence as an upholstery company for 28 years.
Alex Fees: 28? Wow.
Dave Stevens: We specialized in automotive aircraft, boats stuff like that as far as restoration and repair and another branch of our business is medical equipment.
Alex Fees: Medical equipment?
Dave Stevens: We do a lot of hospitals and doctors and dentals.
Alex Fees: Have you been the owner for 28 years all coming the whole time? What's your background and how did you get into this industry?
Dave Stevens: Boy that’s an old story. In the early 60’s when I had a car I want to put in the Oakland Roadster Show. And I had done all the body work with help of—we did all that and come to the upholstery time. And I've never done upholstery and I didn’t know anything about it and I was getting—about a thousand bucks. And in the early 60’s that was some serious money and I figured that can be that hard to do so I took a small course at a junior college in—but you learned doing that, has taken time to learn how to make patterns and stuff and that ended up going over to another upholstery shop and I asked a guy and say, “I come and be your grant and work for you for free. And teach how to do it.
Alex Fees: Yeah.
Dave Stevens: And I did, I ended up being one of my buddies and then three years later I bought him out.
Alex Fees: So, that works though.
Dave Stevens: That’s how I got into it and it just started as a hobby and then I did that car and did good with it. And somebody you know other people say, “Hey, can you do mine, can you do mine?” And so it probably turned into a business and then we opened it up in the early 80’s.
Alex Fees: So catch me up, 40, 50 years later, what’s the latest in the upholstery industry?
Dave Stevens: Some of the new fabrics in buying those are beyond belief. There are some vinyl some companies depending on a manufacturer who’d call it partners. A lot of people think that they all, you know when they go out here and look at any lectures upfront or whatever it’s all leather not likely.
Alex Fees: Really?
Dave Stevens: Yeah, mostly. Well, maybe with the Lexus it might be. But most cars are not all leather. The parts that you sit on are usually leather and all the rest are vinyl.
Alex Fees: Really?
Dave Stevens: Yeah, but the vinyl is so well made and it feels exactly the same and you cannot tear it apart.
Alex Fees: Really?
Dave Stevens: Yeah, we’ve re-done a lot of seats in vinyl to replace the leather and the customer is happy. It doesn’t crack, you don’t have to put—on it, it’s good stuff.
Alex Fees: I’m guessing David and you’re from the country in Lyndon California, where is Lyndon?
Dave Stevens: Well, Lyndon is right in the valley where they grow everything. Everybody eats, it’s between Sacramento and Fresno.
Alex Fees: Probably a lot of this type of industry in that part of the country. Lots of competition?
Dave Stevens: Yeah.
Alex Fees: What sets you apart, how do you account for your success?
Dave Stevens: I do strictly custom work, you know, I’m not out for the mass marketing car dealer kind of work. We do a lot of custom cars, a lot of show car, a lot of show—
Alex Fees: Really. That is custom work if you don’t show cars.
Dave Stevens: It’s strictly show bites in show cars. And then the medical industry picks up the difference.
Alex Fees: Okay. And what are you doing here for the medical industry?
Dave Stevens: We have a contract for several or medical like southern medical and St. Joseph and some of the hospitals and—
Alex Fees: This is our equipment in vehicles or—
Dave Stevens: There are equipment, there are dental chairs, there are surgical tables, wheel chairs and furnace and like you know the upholstery pieces that you lay on when get operated.
Alex Fees: I wouldn’t never thought of that.
Dave Stevens: Bed enclosures and those kinds of stuff. And we do a lot of stuff at the farmers too.
Alex Fees: Really.
Dave Stevens: The tractor’s seat.
Alex Fees: A lot of different ways to do upholstery these days.
Dave Stevens: There is a hundred different ways to do it, yeah.
Alex Fees: So, what about this, tell me about your participation in Sema. You have been coming here for a while.
Dave Stevens: A long time.
Alex Fees: How long?
Dave Stevens: Since the beginning.
Alex Fees: The first one?
Dave Stevens: We went the first one in southern California.
Alex Fees: Really, when was that?
Dave Stevens: It was 64 I think 67 maybe I don’t know that’s a long ago, I can’t remember. And I didn’t know what it was at that time. And I went with a friend of mine who has a speed shot then I got hooked in and then coming ever since.
Alex Fees: So boy, tell about the changes for somebody who’s been here the whole time. What have you seen of all?
Dave Stevens: It started out with a couple of vendors in the few booths and then look at it today.
Alex Fees: And look at it now, when you come to a show like this. Maybe 40 years later, what are you doing here? What do you get out of this? Are you making contacts? Do you take this information home? Is it business, what?
Dave Stevens: Oh yeah, I come here at my age, I’m kind of I got other people that are doing stuff for me. I don’t do it all anymore. Well, actually I never did it all.
Alex Fees: And we are right here on the floor of the convention center in amidst of it all.
Dave Stevens: We are and they’re calling Dan—
Alex Fees: Let’s start over, so in a seminar like this you’ve been coming for these years all these years. What do you get out this, is this just contacts? Are you establishing business here, just checking industry trends, what?
Dave Stevens: Well, you tend to see a lot of the same faces but you see a new product every single time you show up. Many companies have a lot of new—staff that they are doing all the time and they’re bringing their latest stuff here for our industry to see what’s coming out soon or it’s already out or it’s the very latest. And that’s how we keep up on the very latest trends and design. And the latest information on whether it’s vinyl or paint work or whatever is the latest of this because if we’re going to change paint colors and stuff on the car, we’re going to have leather and vinyl products that will go with that car or truck or bike. And I come just to keep current keep up to date.
Alex Fees: You know I interviewed somebody earlier out on the floor doing a story and it’s just a guy a vendor who is attending and he said you know what, he said, “If you’re in this industry and you don’t attend Sema and you’re not in this industry.”
Dave Stevens: Exactly, yeah. If you don’t come here, you’re just spending your wheels. Yeah, you’re missing—
Alex Fees: Alright, David Stevens thank you very much sir.
Dave Stevens: Thank you for having me.
Alex Fees: Good luck to you. Alright, he is David Stevens with Dave’s Valley Custom Upholstery. Let’s give you a free plug here Dave, do you have your website or something?
Dave Stevens: Yeah, it’s davesvcu.com.
Alex Fees: Daves, so d-a-v-e-s.
Dave Stevens: Yes, d-a-v-e-s and then v-c-u for valley custom upholstery.com alright or they can do type valleycustomupholstery.com but it’s a lot of typing and initials are quicker. You’re everywhere, it’s there.
Alex Fees: Alright David thank you.
Dave Stevens: Thanks.
Alex Fees: He’s David Stevens, I’m Alex Fees. You’re watching sbtv.com.
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