I
Almost Famous
t was big news last December when Florida’s Supreme Court ruled that its law telling drivers they couldn’t crank up the volume
on their car stereos, had unreasonably restricted their free speech rights. Yet, cities such as Sarasota, where SRQ Cus-
SRQ Custom Autosound Owner Ryan Pepsin being interviewed by a local TV news anchor in December.
tom Autosound is located, had crafted local ordinances and restrictions based on this state law. As a result, the high-end shop got a visit from a local TV news crew to talk about the ordinance. Owner Ryan Pepsin said he explained the shop’s services and what he and his staff do there on a daily basis during the interview. “Everyone knows that loud car driving down the street that makes everyone angry, but that’s not what we are doing in our shop. I talked about the law, but I also wanted to give the right impression about our industry,” he said. “That Tahoe blasting through Tampa is not my cus- tomer; that’s the DIY crew.” Pepsin also gave the news team a tour of the shop and showed examples of the work SRQ does, such as a car with iPad integration, another vehicle with back-up sensors and a van equipped with Internet access. News can be unpredictable on any day, and it turned out that the footage
When Salem, Va.-based Cus- tom Cars Unlimited started in Jan- uary 2004, owner Keith Price origi- nally started in a location where he managed a business for investors in a start-up shop called Revolu- tion Autosports. “I was the manager there for
the first and, unfortunately, final year due to investor embezzle- ment,” recalled Price. “The three investors had a three-year lease agreement and inventory they wanted to get their investment back on, so they asked me if I’d like to start my own business in their building. I would pay the rent and sell their existing inventory.” For six months, Price remained at that location but eventually
Topping Off a 10- Year Anniversary
Pepsin showed some of the shop’s work, such as this Porsche with what he called “a realistic sound system.”
never aired because all the networks were covering the tragic December shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in New- town, Conn. “The good thing is that it brought
some attention to our industry, and gave us the chance to share what we do,” Pepsin said. µ
moved as the investors were able to sell the Revolution Autosports business. The new owners then approached Price about manag- ing the business for them, but he declined and moved to Salem, Va. In June 2004, he moved into a 925 square-foot building. “As a new business, my invento-
ry was a little scarce, so a smaller building was ideal at first,” he said. “After a year or two, we began busting at the seams, so we added an outdoor 20-foot by 10-foot awning to give us
Custom Cars Unlimited’s showroom area in its remodeled space. Te retailer has come a long way from when it first began in January 2004.
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