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EAST COAST PERFORMANCE Timing Really Can Be Everything BY CAPTAIN D TIMING, they say, is everything. A successful first kiss is mostly a matter of when. The best comedians know how long to hold pregnant pauses. It’s not so much brute strength that enables Tiger Woods to whack golf balls 350 yards; rather it’s his proper sequencing of club and body parts time and time again.  And it’s not just lovers, entertainers, and athletes who rely on super timing. Business people need it too. And some have more of it than others. The lucky few with superb timing stand out from the crowd. They’re able to expand when booms are about to begin, contract when times are about to become dank. To these people, the business cycle is a good friend. They launch product lines at optimum moments, sit tight when that time is right. They know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away. This isn’t taught in books. It’s intuitive, more right brain than left. Success at this doesn’t just single them out; often it renders them a bit contrarian.A case in point is Gary McFarland at Ellsworth’s East Coast Performance. One appropriately timed step at a time, he has built a very good business. East Coast Performance is what Gary calls a speed shop. In the automotive world, this means he’s a bit more specialized than shops like NAPA or VIP which concentrate on standard parts like belts, hoses, and ball joints. "We go in more for dress-up items, specialty items, exterior bolt-on pieces," he says. "Of course, we also do interior and engine components," he adds. Not too long ago, social commentators were claiming that America’s love affair with the automobile had hit the skids. Cars just weren’t that much fun any more. The era of cheap gas was gone for good. The Feds were demanding fuel efficiency. Computers were designing cars to minimize air resistance, and many were beginning to look alike. In many localities, the highways were saturated with traffic; the daily commute had become an ordeal. Whoever would have supposed that a lot of people would once again regard cars as fun? For Gary, cars have always been fun. He has worked on them since he was a little kid. He got started at his uncle’s junkyard in Lamoine. It was a small yard, just six or eight cars, and Gary took every one of them apart. He admits he wasn’t so good at putting them back together, but no matter. He had acquired a lifelong interest. Born and raised in Ellsworth, Gary graduated from Ellsworth High School and, in 1977, from EMVTI. He worked at Dow Motors as a mechanic until 1980, and then at Morrison Chevrolet and, after that, at Brewer’s Twin City Speed Shop. Gary is engaged to be married. His finance, Debbie, is a Bangor girl. Gary went into business for himself in October of 1987 when he opened a small parts store on Ellsworth’s High Street. Six years later, he moved to his present location on the Douglas Highway just outside of town. This larger facility enabled him to do installations. Gary says he doesn’t do true customization, but what he calls minor customization. This means he doesn’t totally dismantle cars, but instead adds such things as new exhaust systems or engine upgrades. It’s the right business at the right time for several reasons. First off, baby boomers have reached a point in life when they can indulge themselves. Many are interested in acquiring the muscle cars they wanted as kids. They’re willing to spend good money to take themselves back to happier days. And it’s not all guys either. More and more women are getting their own cars and have their own ideas on how to make them special. Gary says many young women come into the shop knowing exactly what they want to do. "We don’t have to sell them a thing," he says. Women, Gary adds, are having more influence than ever before on choosing family cars. At the same time, NASCAR has become tremendously popular. Worldwide, it draws more spectators than any other sport, Gary points out. "Everybody has his favorite driver," he notes. "They love their favorite driver and hate the other drivers. People feel an involvement with NASCAR they can’t get with other sports." Maine’s own Ricky Craven has drawn an extremely loyal following. "The average person can’t connect with an Indy driver," Gary says. "Indy racing seems too big and corporate, too far out of reach. Stock car racing is still done at the local level in every state. The local driver can still dream of getting to the big time. In NASCAR, nobody started at the top. They all started in a go cart and many raced on dirt track and other small tracks." Like every good businessman, Gary has an eye toward expansion. Eventually, he wants to add another bay to his service area. But right now, he notes, may not be the time. Ellsworth is in the process of imposing an impact fee on small businesses, he points out. Should he build new or add on to an existing building, the city would try to measure the volume of traffic the business draws and charge accordingly. "I can’t build on if they are going to whack me tens of thousands of dollars for an impact fee," he points out. "I need the money to build on, not to pay them an impact fee." The procedure is common in big cities when WalMart or other big box stores move into an area, he concedes. "These will general thousands of cars a day. I don’t generate thousands a month or even hardly a year. This is very unfair to small business, and small business is what Ellsworth is all about. McFarland also is critical of what he calls Ellsworth’s efforts to limit growth. "Ellsworth is a city, and a city should grow," he says. So what besides magnificent timing makes East Coast Performance special? "We deal one-on-one with our customers," Gary says. "We will take the time to work with each customer individually, to go all out to personalize each vehicle we work with." |
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