From the Wichita Business Journal

EXCLUSIVE REPORTS
From the March 19, 2004 print edition

Growth in west Wichita keeps auto shops alive despite soft industry
Lainie Mazzullo

Phil Turner is taking a chance. Almost 30 years after opening a small auto collision repair shop in downtown Wichita, he decided to grow his business in the direction that so many others are heading: the west side.

In February, Turner's business, Auto Craft Collision Inc., opened in a new, 14,000-square-foot building at 3131 N. Ridge Road. Turner opened the shop because of the increasing number of businesses and houses in the area. The demand was there, he says.

But, it wasn't a step he took lightly. The auto collision repair business in Wichita is as soft as it's been in years, Turner says, because of growing competition. Along with smaller shops, Auto Craft has to compete with large car dealerships and companies such as national collision repair shop Carstar, which recently opened in Wichita...

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From the Wichita Business Journal

INDUSTRY WRAPUPS
From the July 14, 2000 print edition
Market Moves

Auto Craft opens new shop on east side to handle high volume of traffic
Sherry Graham

For 23 years, Auto Craft, which specializes in vehicle collision repair, has been serving customers from its downtown location at 114 North Wabash. Now, owners Phil and Elaine Turner have opened a second Auto Craft location in a state-of-the-art facility at 8532 E. 32nd St. North.

"We maxed out our capacity at our downtown location," says Phil Turner, noting that the 13,000-square-foot store on Wabash services about 150 cars a month.

The Turner's new custom-built location, also 13,000 square feet, features such amenities as an air-conditioned shop, equipment that is recessed into the ceiling and the floor, a central vacuum system, dustless sanders, and an epoxy-finished floor which Turner says reflects light (making it easier to spot dents in vehicles) and is also simpler to keep clean...

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From the Wichita Business Journal

EXCLUSIVE REPORTS
From the November 26, 1999 print edition

Independent body shop expands with North Rock Site
David Dinell

One Wichita auto body shop that has spent decades in an old industrial district in the center city is adding a new location in one of the city's hottest commercial growth centers along North Rock Road.

Auto Craft Inc., a 24-year-old business with a shop at 114 N. Wabash, is constructing a 15,000-square-foot center at 8532 E. 32nd Street N., in an area best known for its trendy eateries and upscale retailers...

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