Harvey’s Collision Centers was founded in 1956 by William J. Harvey, who started the business on Cedar Springs Drive before moving to the current location on Maple Avenue in Dallas. He and the next two generations of his family kept the single-location body shop thriving, largely due to their reputation for outstanding service.
Harvey’s Collision Centers
Dallas, Mesquite and Allen, TX
214-526-1363
harveyscollisioncenters.com
Facebook: @Harveyspaintandbody
Instagram: @harveyscollisioncenters
Company At A Glance...
Type: Collision Repair
Facility Employees: 70
In Business Since: 1956
Number of Locations: Four
Combined Production Space: 65,600 square feet
In early 2018, Harvey’s grandson and third-generation owner, Johnny Harvey, sold the business to Jeremy Lennox.
Lennox had a lifetime of experience in the collision repair industry — his father founded Service King, and Lennox worked for his dad’s company for 24 years, before leaving in 2017 to strike out on his own. Lennox said he bought Harvey’s because it had such a stellar reputation and was in a prime location, near one of the city’s major arteries.
“Mr. Harvey had a really good brand,” Lennox said. “I knew that the Harvey’s reputation in Dallas was something I could build a business out of.”
Jeremy Lennox, left, bought Harvey’s Collision Centers from third-generation owner Johnny Harvey in 2018. In 2023, Jeff McFadden, right, joined as an equal partner and CEO.
Lennox got right to work building out the business, buying a former NAPA Auto Parts store on Commerce Street in Dallas and converting it into the second Harvey’s location.
In July 2023, Jeff McFadden joined Harvey’s as an equal partner in the business and the company’s CEO, bringing decades of experience in the industry, including 34 years as a Service King teammate, 10 of those as president.
The same day McFadden joined, the company closed on a new location in Mesquite, TX, which became Harvey’s third, and then opened its fourth location, in Allen, TX, on Central Expressway, in a 21,000-square-foot former furniture store. The company has plans to open a fifth location by the end of 2024, and several more by the end of 2025.
McFadden said coming from a large MSO to a family-owned business was an exciting opportunity to do something special and build a unique brand that differentiates Harvey’s from the competition.
Harvey’s paint partnership was one of the first things McFadden looked at. He had been a part of converting all 350 Service King locations to Axalta in 2014, so he did not hesitate to reach back out to Axalta — with whom he’s had a lot of success in the past.
“Axalta championed the cause; I was treated the same as when I was talking about converting 350 shops,” McFadden said.
McFadden turned to English Color & Supply, a Dallas-based distributor he has worked with his entire career, to install paint booths, support Harvey’s painters in learning the Axalta system and keep all four locations stocked.
“They converted all three existing locations at the time in three weeks — the equipment, training, time in the paint booths, follow up training,” McFadden said.
Harvey’s Collision Centers uses Axalta’s Cromax XP line because it provides superior color-matching and requires fewer coats, increasing efficiency and reducing materials costs.
“They’re just really good people,” McFadden said. “We ended up with two great partners [in Axalta and English.] English’s CEO Robert Burns is just a great guy that gets the job done with epic support.”
Harvey’s started using Axalta’s Cromax XP line, a solventborne base coat that delivers a high-quality finish in an easy-to-use system.
“It’s their best solvent product,” McFadden said. “It’s where their R&D goes for solvent, so we’re shooting the latest technology.”
McFadden said the Cromax XP line averages two coats, rather than five to seven like some other vendors’ products, which increases efficiency and reduces materials costs. It also lays down clean and has a consistently superior color match.
The painters at Harvey’s were quick to adapt to Axalta’s system.
“We went to the painters and asked if they would be OK with switching [from the former vendor],” McFadden said. “They said they’d heard great things about Axalta or had worked with it before at other shops and liked it.”
McFadden said learning a new manufacturer’s paint system can be tricky — like getting in one automaker’s vehicle after driving another your whole life and finding different controls — but the training and support from English Color & Supply and Axalta made for a smooth transition.
“[The painters] were very satisfied with the training, as well as with the product they got at the end of the day,” McFadden said.
Customers also appreciate the color-matching quality of Axalta finishes.
“It’s the first thing the customer sees,” McFadden said. “They may not understand the structural repair of their car, but they understand color match.”
Switching to Axalta helped Harvey’s realize the true potential in profitability in its paint shop.
“You get there via technology, the best product and adjacent partnerships, along with the training they provide,” he said. “Axalta and English Color & Supply really have all the bases covered.”
Harvey’s uses Axalta’s PBE Exchange, a smartphone app, available on both Apple and Android phones, that allows online ordering while helping shops track product use and efficiency.
“[Switching to Axalta] was one of the easiest decisions that I’ve made in the nine months I’ve been here,” McFadden said. “The confidence I have in the Axalta team is really second to none.”
Axalta Coating Systems
1-855-6-AXALTA
www.axalta.us
Facebook: @AxaltaNArefinish
X: @axalta
Instagram: @axaltarefinish
LinkedIn: @axalta
YouTube: @axalta
To read more auto body shop profiles in the June 2024 Shop and Product Showcase, click here.
