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Letter to the Editor
Tuesday September 24
Craig and Kyle Van Cleve Reacquire Craig's Collision Centers
After nearly a two year absence in the collision repair marketplace, brothers Craig and Kyle Van Cleve are back, having repurchased the five Craig's locations they sold in 1998, acquiring a new Craig's location in Bedford and three B & B Body and Paint locations in the Austin/San Marcus area. The Van Cleve's had sold the five Dallas/Fort Worth Craig's locations to Collision Team of America (CTA), a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company and Saugatuck Capital, but remained involved on a consulting basis until January 2001.The six Craig's Collision Centers, located in Arlington, Bedford, Duncanville, Farmers Branch, Fort Worth and Grapevine, the two Austin B & B locations and the San Marcus B & B, will provide the Van Cleves the opportunity to make a major impact in both marketplaces.
"The old saying about how you never know how much you miss something until it's gone, sure applied to Kyle and I the past three years, said Craig Van Cleve. After being in the collision repair business for 20 years, it just becomes a part of your life. Being away from it was difficult, but we're glad to be back. Having the six Craig's locations, plus the three B & B Body and Paint locations, is the ideal situation, but neither Kyle nor I are ones to sit on our laurels, so you'll see new and exciting things for both the Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin markets in the near future."
Dallas native Craig Van Cleve opened the first Craig's Collision Center, at the corner of Main and Oakland in Dallas' Deep Ellum, in 1979. With his brother Kyle joining him in 1980, Van Cleve then opened a second location in Farmers Branch. In 1986, the two brothers decided to close the original location, but opened another location in the rapidly growing Duncanville area. Three additional Craig's locations followed: Arlington in 1991, Grapevine in 1995 and Fort Worth in 1999.
B & B Body and Paint is one of the Austin area's largest and oldest collision repair groups. Rex Womble opened the first B&B location on North Lamar in Austin in 1974. A second facility, located on Shelby Lane, was added in 1995, followed by the San Marcus location in 1996. Like the Van Cleve brothers, Womble sold the three locations in 1999 to CTA.
Kyle Van Cleve added, "The car repair business is a great industry, with super people to work with. That's probably what Craig and I missed the most, the people. From all our employees, to the customers and the agents - you name it, they were all missed. I feel like a kid with a new bicycle being back. Craig and I left once, but plan on being around for the long haul this time around."
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