PLATTSBURGH — Yipes! Plattsburgh is now owned by its former business manager.
Owner Jack Helfgott said he acquired the business last July. He was hired as the business manager near the end of 2008.
It was previously owned by the owners of the Williston location. When they talked about selling the place, he discussed it with his fiancée (now wife) and former North Country Small Business Development Center Director Rick Leibowitz.
"He helped me put together a business plan," Helfgott said. "The North Country Small Business Development Center is a huge resource to go to for help when you need it."
He said he was able to secure financing from Champlain National Bank. Helfgott said that as a business owner, he has become more aware of the importance of shopping locally.
He said he was very nervous when he decided to buy the business, but seven months in he hasn't had to touch the line of credit he received.
The business offers a full line of bolt-on auto and truck accessories. He said they don't do internal engine work.
"I want to stick to what we can do well and do it really well," Helfgott said.
That leads to word-of-mouth advertising, the best type a business can receive. He said the goal is to make his customers want to come back when they need something else or have a new vehicle.
The business occupies 7,000 square feet. Helfgott said he installed a new security system when he bought the business to protect his inventory, but also his customers' vehicles.
Tuffy, a 12-year-old chihuahua/terrier mix, helps provide friendly security during the day.
Yipes! Plattsburgh offers design and installation of a full line of graphics and signs for vehicles or businesses. Those are designed and produced in house.
Greg Hines handles the graphic design and installation side of the business. He works nights after his other full-time job, so Helfgott just hired part-time designer David Fuller to work noon to 5 p.m. on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays .
"He will produce the design, go over the proof and estimates," Helfgott said. "Greg will do the installations."
Wes Suber and Jason Hanaburgh are the technicians, while Nick Payette mans the sales counter. Helfgott said Suber does amazing work with the Onyx spray-on bedliners, which come with a 100-percent lifetime warranty.
Suber has even used the product to add strength to loudspeaker boxes.
YIPES! Plattsburgh also offers undercoating, something that's valuable during the harsh North Country winter.
"We offer a full line of Jeraco (truck) caps," Helfgott said.
The shop also carries tonneau covers by Extang and Truxedo, as well as TrailFX window vents and Lund vent shades.
He recently started to offer race sport HID (high intensity) headlights.
"We tested those in our own vehicles," Helfgott said.
It's been a mild winter so far, so he hasn't sold as many remote starters or heated seat units as usual.
Helfgott is trying out a new line of leather seat covers to see how they will work with seat warmers. It would be a large price reduction from full-blown leather seats if it works.
He's also considering offering cellphone interlocks so parents can prevent their kids from calling or texting while driving. The business is approved to install ignition interlocks required after a driving-while-intoxicated conviction.
Helfgott has joined the North Country Marketing Alliance, and his website runs through the www.goplattsburgh.com website. Helfgott said that if he has a customer looking for something to do while his employees work on a vehicle, he refers them to some of the other businesses that are part of the alliance.
"We are trying to grow our Canadian business," Helfgott said. It helps that the alliance supplied its member businesses with translation guides.
Helfgott said business wouldn't be going this well without his hard-working employees.
"They do the work. I give them all the credit for my being successful so far."
Yipes! Plattsburgh is located at 8 Sheridan Ave. along the South Peru Street entrance to Skyway Plaza. For more information, call 324-9473 or visit www.yipesplattsburgh.com.
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