|
To appreciate the car accessory market, think makeup. Fashionable females of the '50s wore bright red lipstick, eye shadow and rouge. In the peace-and-love 1960s, makeup was frowned upon and the natural look was in. Gradually, mascara made a comeback, and makeup is again in vogue.
In a similar vein, auto buyers for decades made changes to their cars, installing leather seats, headers, mag wheels and spoilers. But a 1990s shift in buying habits changed all that. The target market became cost-conscious baby boomers, carting around kids in their minivans or port-utilities. Many of these drivers had little interest in personalizing cars other than attaching a mirror on the sun visor, or maybe bolting on a state-flag license plate.
Then about five years ago, the tide again shifted. Younger drivers in particular discovered that they -- or their parents -- could buy inexpensive used cars and then spend hundreds of dollars sprucing them up.
"A lot of guys want the aggressive look, the race-car look," said Jerry Seprish, owner of the Show Zone custom auto shop on Ladson Road, Charleston, SC.
Older motorists, too, are getting into the act, adding seat cushions, glove compartment organizers and portable consoles with drink holders and writing pads.
But driving the force are teenagers and young adults craving souped-up vehicles, just as their parents and grandparents customized '57 Chevys, Mustangs, 'Vettes, Camaros and muscle mobiles.
"All I think about is cars," said Justine Courtney, a sophomore at the College of Charleston, browsing one recent weekday at Show Zone. She owns a custom Honda Civic Del Sol but plans to accessorize, too. Growing up, she had no interest in cars. Then she met a group of car fix-it friends and was hooked. "Girls buy beauty magazines. I now have six car magazines," she said.
Today, everything from base model Dodge trucks to sporty Mitsubishis wind up as part show car, part racer: They're gussied up with $25 shiny floor mats, $30 stenciled flames, $200 brightly colored seat covers, $500 high-tech radio and speakers, $1,000 sport fenders and headlights and spinning rims from $400 to $4,000 a set.
The buying binge has turned the auto accessory industry, a dwindling business in the 1990s, into a multibillion-dollar industry nationwide.
It's like going into Belk. The men's section is over in the corner," said Tom Fletcher, manager of Pep Boys west of the Ashley. "The women's section has a whole floor."
Pep Boys has a row or two set aside for utilitarian and replacement items, such as sun visors, belt shoulder pads and coverings to keep seats from getting hot or cold. But the bulk of merchandise has been turned over to younger buyers -- colorful shift knobs, pedals and steering wheel covers; hood ornaments; oversized temperature gauges and tachometers; chrome wheels and other eye-grabbers.
Fletcher, who has worked for the Philadelphia-based Pep Boys auto superstore chain for 18 years, said buyers in the 1980s sought performance, "race-car stripes, headers, that type of thing. Then the accessory line kind of died out for a long time," he said.
In response, Pep Boys stocked more "hard equipment" such as alternators and spark plugs, moving away from gadgets and styling items. With the recent rebirth of flashy accessories, the chain has hustled to restock its shelves, he said.
Maybe the hottest-selling item are flashy rims, although many buyers settle for imitation covers rather than replacing the wheels and tires. The spinner wheels, which keep twirling even when the car is stopped, can cost as much as $8,000, including special new tires. But buyers can spend as little as $35 a wheel for plastic covers that attach to the rims and spin.
Sales jumped 20 percent this year at Jett Wheels, a four-year-old business on Savannah Highway. Owner Hugh Jett said the increase stems partly from the business' relocation to a more visible site, as well as from the trendy products.
"We have a lot of people looking at them but not buying," Jett said. Still, sales were brisk during the summer months, he said.
The center's customers run the gamut, he said, "from high school kids saving up money to fix up a car to the successful professional who wants a different look." A Chevy truck owner might spend the $1,800 to change out steel wheels with alloy ones, he said. Another popular style change is to install pricey BMW wheels, say, on a lower-priced import.
Audio and video systems also are popular accessories. They can range from CD changers to massive speakers for $350 that fit in the trunk, satellite radio to DVDs in the $650 to $1,500 range, said Chip Lucas, owner of Auto Sound Specialists in North Charleston.
"We probably do more video (now). Five years ago, it was all car audio," he said.
A gadget that's growing in popularity is the remote starter. The car owner can push a fob and start up the car from the outside, warming the interior on freezing cool days or running the air conditioning on stifling hot days, Fletcher said.
Curiously, sunroofs are an exception. The open roofs were once a popular installation feature, but sales have dropped off. Custom and specialty shops cite various reasons: a mild and rainy summer, a still slack economy and more and more carmakers offering sunroofs as relatively low-priced options.
David Sage, owner of Westside Upholstery, said he still fits some of the pop-up roofs for $300 and electric openers costing $675.
"It's like most accessories nowadays. A lot of younger kids (buy)," Sage said. "Girls seem to like them a lot."
Copyright 2003 The Post and Courier
| 
