Sales of Car Coolers Soar in Heat : Valley Pair Have It Made in Shade
If you’ve noticed lots of cars wearing eyeglasses lately, it is not a signal that myopia has become prevalent among automobiles. It’s just a sign that a couple of Israelis whose first names are Avi are finally making some money in Van Nuys.
The two Avis, Fattal and Ruimi, moved there three years ago and decided to make a buck. They had no capital but relied on powers of reasoning and observation that would have shamed Sherlock Holmes.
“We sat together and thought, what does Los Angeles need?” Avi Fattal said. “We find out the weather is hot, and there are lots of cars.”
Thus Auto-Shade Inc. was born. The company makes and sells big pieces of white cardboard that are prefolded accordion-style, making them easy to open and stick under the windshield over the dashboard, where they block out the sun. One side is printed with giant sunglasses. The other side says: “Need Help Please Call Police.”
Idea Born in Israel
The two Avis got the idea from similar car shades that are widely used in Israel, and the concept seems to be taking hold in the Southland. The devices, if they can be called that, are selling briskly.
“I wish I had a business like that,” Bernie Leonidas said with envy. Leonidas is manager of the U-Save Auto Parts store in Canoga Park, and he says more than 200 people buy Auto-Shades from him every day, often taking two or three for other family cars. U-Save charges $3.94 apiece.
Others have developed more elaborate contraptions to keep car interiors cool and prevent dashboards from cracking, but the Avis insist theirs is the cheapest and simplest. They will not disclose much more about their company, though, except to assert that their little cardboard accordions are selling like shovels in a blizzard.
“The next Rubik cube,” Avi Ruimi said.
“The Hula Hoop!” Avi Fattal said.
The partners are both 29 and from Jerusalem. They even look alike: dark-haired, deeply bronzed and fit, a pair of Israelis from Central Casting. Fattal, whose American father-in-law bankrolled the business for a while, is company president. Ruimi is vice president.
Selling Thousands Daily
As for sales or revenue, Fattal would say only that the company is selling thousands of the shades daily, primarily in Southern California but elsewhere in the nation as well. If that is so, it is a far cry from the past two summers, when they could hardly give Auto-Shades away.
“We had a very rough start,” Fattal said. “We didn’t know the American market.”
Earlier versions of their product said “I Love California” and were made of inferior cardboard, the Avis said.
“Nobody believed we could sell a piece of cardboard for $5,” Ruimi said.
Faced with bankruptcy last December, in a season when selling sun-blocking equipment is like selling ice skates in August, the company got a $60,000 infusion from Fattal’s father-in-law. By April, only $2,000 was left, and the partners had yet to pay themselves a salary.
Summer Saves the Day
Fortunately for the two Avis, summer came to Southern California before insolvency hit Auto-Shade, and now some people pay more than $5 for their piece of cardboard. Ordering by mail, customers pay $6.32, including tax and postage.
Marketing turned out to be the key, Fattal said. The company revamped its newspaper advertising to publicize the product better, and the sunglasses on the shades seemed to add to the appeal, he said. The design is based on a pair he borrowed from his wife.
One of the nice things about the business, the partners say, is the cash flow. Mail orders include checks, so the money is in hand before Auto-Shade has to pay suppliers. And they say that demand, and retailer profit margins, are high enough so they can insist that retailers pay up front, too.
They won’t disclose what it costs Auto-Shade to have its shades made, but they say retailers who sell them for $3.99 to $4.99 apiece make a 70% to 100% profit.
The partners have nine employees at their offices in Van Nuys. The manufacturing is done by several other companies, but Auto-Shade does the folding and packing.
Some companies are even ordering Auto-Shades with their logo on them as promotional items. So far, the only problem with Auto-Shades, the Avis say, is people who put them in their windshield backward, prompting needless calls to police.
