No stranger to the collision repair industry, Brandon Pierson spent his teenage years working with his Dad and Grandpa at Pierson Auto Body. Around the beginning of 2014, he and his wife Brittany opened a shop of their own: Wreck A Mended at 2360 West Morton in Jacksonville. Working as a one-man shop, he hopes to grow the new business through high-quality service and word-of-mouth recommendations (hence the name.)
Pierson has learned his craft through hands-on experience, self-teaching, and trainings that range in duration from just a few days to a week in the Chicago area. Up until four years ago, he worked at his family’s shop, and later spent time working at a few other auto shops until starting this new venture.
When the opportunity arose to buy the location on Morton, he and his wife decided it was time to take the leap into an entrepreneurial venture of their own. “My wife helped me come up with the play-on-words name, and she’s been a great support,” he said.
On a daily basis, Pierson keeps busy. “Being a one-man operation each day has been one of the most challenging parts so far,” said Pierson. “I answer the phones, complete the work, create the estimates…it’s a lot of juggling.” In the future, he hopes to expand his staff and give back to the community. For now, he’s putting in the sweat equity and starting small.
While the shop focuses on collision repair services including body work and paint jobs, it also offers spray-in bedliners and custom auto painting. Over his career, Pierson has also taken on a few restoration jobs—cosmetically fixing up everything from at 1964 Thunderbird to mid-sized items such as old gas pumps, tractor parts, and vintage refrigerators. With his tools and experience, he’s able to take old items and make them look new again. “I’ve only done a few large projects like the Thunderbird,” he explained, “Because they’re very time-consuming and have to be taken step-by-step.”
The best part of his work: Seeing the finished product. “I like seeing things come in wrecked and leave here looking like they did pre-accident.” Depending on the level of damage, repairs can take anywhere from a day to a couple of weeks to be turned around. His goal is to provide great quality work, customer service, and always be accessible to the customer—even handing out his personal cell phone number to anyone who needs his services. (It’s 370-1631 in case you’re wondering—he told me I could include it here, too!)
For collision repair or custom painting, get in touch with Brandon at 245-7446 or stop by the shop on Morton. You can also find them on Facebook at facebook.com/wreckamendedautobody.
