ATLANTA, Ga. – Speedemissions Inc. announced that while its corporate name will remain the same, it plans to operate its stores in 2014 under two new brands, "Expresso Emissions" and "Expresso Car Care Café."
Speedemissions is a leading car care company providing vehicle emissions testing, safety inspections and light automotive repair operating 43 stores in the Atlanta, Houston, St. Louis and Salt Lake City markets. The company also is the developer of CARbonga, an automobile diagnostic mobile app.
Expresso Emissions stores will continue to provide vehicle emissions testing and/or safety inspections in those markets where it is required, as well as sell light bulbs, wipers and headlight restoration services. The Expresso Car Café facilities will handle the same services, plus emission repair, diagnostics, engine tune-up, brake repair, radiator and air conditioning flushes, oil changes and more.
The company said these name changes were made to reflect its continued commitment to its core business of vehicle emissions testing and safety inspections, while expanding its emission repair and light automotive repair model with an entirely new concept when it comes to the automobile services industry.
"Expresso Emissions and Expresso Car Care Café, with their new names, colors and logo design make a strong statement about continuing to perform our services in a fast, efficient manner," said Rich Parlontieri, president and CEO. "And, since we’re not able to retrofit any more of our existing stores into a repair facility, we’ve created an entirely new store design and concept that we believe fits today’s and tomorrow’s automotive services customer.
"Our Expresso Car Care Café store will be uniquely more than just another auto repair shop or garage," he added. "It will provide a whole new experience and a comfortable environment for our customer. It’s one that begins when a customer drives into the parking lot and looks at the building design. What they’ll see is an automotive services facility that has a ‘You Really Are Welcome Here’ look and feel to it. With lots of glass, warm lighting and soft colors, the Expresso Car Care Café will embrace our customer’s arrival and serve as an experience to look forward to with every visit."
Parlontieri further explained that, "The Expresso Car Care Café store will be between 3,300′ and 4,400′ square feet with either four or six bays for automotive services and almost 2,000 square feet dedicated to the ‘customer experience.’ The new stores will provide customers with an internet café with free Wi-Fi and secured tablets to use while getting their car serviced, the opportunity to shop for a broad array of merchandise beyond wiper blades and light bulbs with up to 30 linear feet of shelf display, or a place to just sit, relax and converse with other customers with a cup of fresh coffee. In addition, for the customer who is in a hurry and can’t wait for the job to be done, our valet service will provide them with transportation to and from work or home.
"As a means to accelerate development, Speedemissions will not be in the real estate business but rather will be working with several of its current landlords to become partners in the project. We expect to open two to four Express Car Care Café stores in 2014. With respect to the current Speedemissions testing stores, they will, over the course of the year, be rebranded with the Expresso Emissions logo design and colors but will not be converted into Expresso Car Care Café stores because of existing building constraints," added Parlontieri.
