Finding a Shop Dressed to Impress
Chrome plating shops over the years have come a long way toward brightening up their industry. Now, Terry Meetz of Custom Plating Specialists in Brillion, Wisconsin has taken things to a new level. He has erected a brand new shop building that’s whistle clean, colorful and well planned to serve the needs of his customers.
Meetz and his father Jewel Meetz started Custom Plating Specialists in 1986. Jewel’s business at the time was called Jewel’s Body Shop and specialized in Ford Thunderbird restorations. The chrome shop was called Jewel’s Custom Chrome Plating.
In July 2004, Terry bought the plating business from his dad and started operating as Custom Plating Specialist Inc. Since taking the business over, Meetz has grown the company from two employees to a staff of eight. The company now does chrome plating for clients across the world.
Meetz developed an extensive program of traveling to car shows that was featured in THE SHOP in 2016. By reaching out to customers through this type of face-to-face contact, he built Custom Plating Specialists up even more.
The new building-”which sits adjacent to the original facility in rural Brillion-”is currently in the final phase of completion. On the outside, the shop looks like a typical post-frame industrial building with dark brown panels, but the inside was planned with the same flair seen in one of the 1950s cars that Meetz often puts the shine on with his chrome plating.
A black and white checkerboard floor leads clients to the eye-popping turquoise-and-white customer service counter where parts can be dropped off and estimates written.
Meetz also is setting up his own office in a second room. A large space in another part of the building features wooden racks where parts can be stored in a very organized manner. Meetz has established his own graphics shop for the business and that division will have its own dedicated area within the new workshop.
Also located in the new facility will be the shipping department where shiny, freshly chrome-plated parts-”ranging from dashboard knobs to bumpers-”will be wrapped for shipping to the company’s world-wide customer base.
