Monday, December 7, 2009

Marcell's Auto Detailing and Repairs opens on Great Road


Marcell's Auto Detailing and Repairs opened last month in the two service bays of the Gas Station at 105 Great Road. While the gas station last re-opened in July of 2008, the service bays have generally been empty.

I recently spoke with Fabricio (who does the detailing). According to Fabricio, Marcell's Detailing has been in Lowell for 13 years. They have recently been looking to add a second location and Bedford seemed like a area that could use another Auto Detailer and they liked the town itself. While the service bays are part of the gas station, Marcell's is actually  leasing the bays directly from Dahar Realty, the owner of the building. With two service bays available, they decided to add on auto repair in addition to the detailing service. The Bedford location offers a wide range of detailing services ranging from a Express Power Wash to a Deluxe Full Detail. It takes from 1-4 hours for most detailing depending on the level of service. The prices range from about $30-250.

I also spoke with Marcus (who does the auto repair). Marcus has been working on cars and trucks for most of his life and really takes pride in his work. He offers general automotive repair such as brakes, oil changes and  suspension work. According to Marcus, a lot of customers have initially come in for detailing work and find it convenient to have repairs or maintenance done at the same time. He mentioned that Fabricio and himself have been very pleased with the growth of the business. He credits the referrals from the gas station as well as some flyers he has placed at Ken's Deli. Marcell's has also been able to sign up some commercial accounts for repair work as well as partner with a local tire store for detailing customer cars. Fabricio and Marcell are currently the only employees, they may add a third employee down the road.

They are open Monday through Saturday from around 8am - 6pm and also offer free pickup and drop off within 10 miles for both detailing and auto repair which seems like a good benefit to employees at all the office parks in Bedford (you can have you car worked on without having to leave the office). It's interesting to note that there are not a lot of competing detailing shops. The closest location I could find is S & J Auto Detail which is just over the Burlington line on Bedford Street  (Route 62). I have also seen some mobile detailing companies that drive up in a van but don't know how prevalent they are in the local area. On the automotive repair side, the nearest competitors are Sullivan Tire and Riggio Auto Repair (aka Sunoco).