Expanding in Anderson

Chad (son), Joy (wife), Pete, Crystal (daughter), Kari (daughter) Corcoran

18 MONTHS OF SUCCESS: Carl Hild, 50, of Redding expanded Hild Collision Center to Anderson rather than develop a larger facility there. So far, he is happy with the community and the potential for growth of his auto, RV and truck repair business in the South County.

A successful collision center with a long history in Redding decided to open a second center in Anderson 18 months ago as the local economy was about to tank.

The owners of a debt-free City of Shasta Lake flooring store see a timely opportunity to fill a south county vacuum in services and are looking to launch a second location of their store in Anderson by April.

What do each of these businesses owners know about expanding to a second location during difficult economic times?

"What has motivated us to look at Anderson are a couple of things," said Pete Corcoran, 53, owner of Shasta Lake Floors. "First, we already do some business down there. Second, there really is no high-quality flooring service company doing business down here," Corcoran said.

Corcoran is currently scouting locations to lease or purchase in the Anderson area. He needs at least 2,000 square feet of commercial storefront in a visible and easy-to-access location and could use up to 3,000 square feet if the price was within reason, he said.

Meanwhile, Carl Hild, 50, of Redding has been splitting his time between Anderson and Redding for the past 18 months operating two locations each named Hild Collision Center.

The Redding location at 1579 E. Cypress St., was started by Carl's father, Art Hild, in 1965. It has been at its current location - just behind what once was Redding French Bakery - for 38 years, said Carl Hild, who took over the family-owned corporation when his father retired 15 years ago.

In June 2008, Carl Hild decided to open a second location in Anderson rather than expand his Redding business.

"We are pretty well blocked in by commercial development all around our Redding shop. We also wanted to offer our current clientele who own RVs and motor homes a place to get repair work done on those vehicles as well," Carl Hild explained his reasons for looking at a second location in Anderson.

"We found a good location - a former truck repair facility - at a fair price. It met the needs for location and customer ease of access," he said.

While every business is unique and has its own set of challenges, Hild said, enough similarities can be found in these two very different businesses to be of use to most business owners weighing the pros and cons of expansion.

"Because I had inherited this business from my father, I had not know what it takes to start up a business from the ground level," Hild said. "I found it refreshing. Watching our business grow and sharing that excitement with the employees re-emphasized what we are all about."

Community service and stewardship are two of Hild's watchwords. He strongly believes in giving back to the community. He joined Anderson Rotary in the fall of 2009, and this week he became a director of the Anderson Chamber of Commerce.

"This area is ripe for growth and we want to be positioned here when that happens," said Hild, who hired a marketing consultant prior to his own expansion.

"We have found the community to be very welcoming," Hild said.

Corcoran and his wife Joy are both looking forward to living in Anderson once they get the second store open for business.

"Anderson will be a bigger ball game for us," noted Corcoran, who currently serves as an ambassador for the City of Shasta Lake's Chamber of Commerce. "This is a nice community. We have a lot of family living down here and there is a lot of good positive energy in the Chamber here."

City officials in Anderson appear "eager to help businesses relocate," an attitude that is not universally shared by other communities in the county, Corcoran said.

"The only problem we are having is to find an older building that doesn't require a lot of work since we are looking at an immediate opening in a couple of months. We would like a long-term lease with an option to buy, or we do have to unimproved properties in the City of Shasta Lake that we could offer in trade," he said.