Building on its shining success, attention to detail and “Protect Your Investment” tagline, Detailers of Naples is revolutionizing its locally owned auto detailing business with a game-changing move.
The latest expansion began in August with the purchase of a nearly 14,000-square-foot warehouse at 3550 Westview Drive in Naples. Detailers of Naples founder Brennen Seaman teamed up with Naples-based VALO Holdings Group to buy the building for more than $3 million.
Extensive work is planned there during the final part of 2022 to launch a fresh chapter for the business in the new year. “Our goal with the building is to create something which has not been here before in Naples,” Seaman said. “We’re doing indoor wash bays where we can wash cars inside, which is super big for our employees to have the ability to wash cars without worrying about heat or weather conditions. No one here in Naples has that because it’s extremely costly and, obviously, you need space for it.”
A lot of the building’s interior will feature glass where car owners can watch the process while relaxing in a mancave-type of environment. My Shower Door, based in Southwest Florida, will build the glass partitions.
“When we say we’re sparing no expense, we are really going to do it up and make everything glass inside so when a client walks through or you’re sitting in the lounge we want them to see our work,” Seaman said. “We want the client to see how beautiful our shop is when they walk in. We want them to see their car being worked and explain the process and have somebody walk them through it. That way they leave understanding the service they just bought and what that product does for them.”
The new owners of the 20-year-old building plan a floor-to-ceiling facelift of the entire space. Although it’s a single-floor building it will have some mezzanine areas and tall ceilings. “We’ll be able to get boats in there, which is nice,” Seaman said. “That’s something with our current office layout we’re not able to do. So, we’re looking forward to that and maybe grabbing some marine contracts with the dealers here. We have the ability now to basically drive a boat in on a trailer or a forklift. We have plenty of room for maneuverability.”
In addition to Detailers of Naples, Seaman’s other company, Blue Diamond Garage & Home Solutions, also will have executive offices in the building along with a showroom, waiting room and design center display area. Blue Diamond is building out the building’s garage areas.
“We have quite a big build ahead of us because we’re just going all in and branding it and making it like no one’s ever seen. We have a good three months of work ahead of us,” Seaman said. “We’re coming in and spending a few million dollars just getting that looking right, which is super, super important to us.”
Part of Detailers of Naples’ plan was partnering with VALO Holdings, a local venture capital group, to meet the needs of the guaranteed growth of regional rooftops, household income and auto dealerships. “It gives us some credibility in the marketplace,” Seaman said. “So, once the building is established, one of the things we are going to go out and do next is start buying up small owner-operator shops or mobile detail shops and to also acquire some of their people to employ as well. We want to go out there and have a campaign across the whole state of Florida and acquire high-volume detail shops and learn from them and grab their clientele and market.”
Detailers of Naples has built its name on protecting luxury cars at the local Porsche and Ferrari
dealerships, where they provide cars purchased there with paint protection film, ceramic coating and window tint. As the exclusive XPEL brand dealer in Collier County, they developed a system for dealerships, which were not always selling protection packages because they weren’t satisfied with previous vendors.
Seaman said the goal is to be known for everything from a standard detail to wrapping a car, which can cost $15,000. “We want to become the staple in Florida,” he said.
A new logo and branding with its relaunch are symbolic of the evolution Detailers of Naples has achieved in the last decade. Seaman, 23, started the luxury car care company in Naples before he was old enough to drive a car.
“I started when I was 14 just door-knocking the neighborhood. I took one of those little USPS postal carrier boxes that you might see someone have mail in and put some soap and a bucket and some towels and went to work around the neighborhood and did that for a little bit until I got my license,” he said.
From its mobile start, the young entrepreneur’s local business was on the move. Early connections enabled the curation of a high-end clientele list.
Although mainly automotive, Seaman’s company also services boats and plans additional services to separate it from the competition. “We’re going to be adding a transportation service to our fleet, so we just acquired a new vehicle that will be used for this. We will have the ability to pick up your car in a very, very nice custom trailer. So, that’s going to be something that’s going to be a game-changer on our end.”
Seaman plans to eventually grow and scale into new dealerships and markets up the Gulf Coast such as Sarasota and Tampa with the VALO Holdings partnership. “We’re not stopping with the building acquisition together. We really do hope to go out and buy in the next two years and have a portfolio of five different companies we’ve acquired.”
A business mindset has given Detailers of Naples an edge over its owner-operator competition, said Seaman, who admits he’s kind of obsessed with business. “We’ve made a non-sexy business that’s washing and protecting cars kind of sexy and cool,” he said.
“In our industry, the reason why you don’t really see much more than some owner-operator-type setups is because people don’t understand there’s a difference between working on the business and not in it,” Seaman said. “So, that’s one of my main philosophies is that I work on the business and let other people work in it and that way we keep driving toward a bigger goal and a bigger vision.”
