North Canton Collision Management Still Beaming Over Summer Improvements

Noticed North Canton Collision looking a little different these days?

The auto shop has ditched the old brick look for something a little more modern — some might say a little fancier and a little brighter — this summer, and it's been a big hit with the community, manager Kerri Wolf said.

Customers and community members haven't been shy about sharing their thoughts with the employees at North Canton Collision, either. In fact, one of the most interesting compliments came from a North Canton Police officer.

"He wanted to know if he needed to wear a tie to come see us now," Wolf said.

Other improvements, in addition to the new exterior, started with a new roof because, with the old one, it "poured inside when it rained," Wolf said. Other improvements just kept coming after that, she said.

They added a new eco-friendly paint booth that eliminates paint fumes and got rid of the plate-glass windows, which caused the building to be freezing in the winter and sweltering in the summer. Employees wore coats in the cold months, and the plastic office phones actually melted in the summer months.

"The plate glass windows were cracking and cracking and we knew we had to do something soon," Wolf said.

They also added new garage doors. And, when it comes to the interior, they ripped up old burgundy carpet, updated paneling, painted and laid ceramic tile.

Owner Jeff Coen, a graduate of the Hoover High School auto body program, said residents in the nearby apartment buildings have also stopped over just to tell them how much they like the updates.

Coen started North Canton Collision in March of 1999, and the improvements mean a lot to him and the crew of 16 since he purchased the building a few years ago.

"This is like our house," he said.