I’ve personally been involved with moving a couple of large companies to new locations/buildings over the last 15 years and out of all of them I’d have to say this move would have to be the most time consuming of the lot.
Also I’d say it was the most exciting move as it wasn’t just moving a lot of stock and calling it a day, it was moving ABTEC into its own building and setting up the two sides of the business (Workshop & Retail) separately with their own needs & wants.
Plans on moving to a bigger/better location had been talked about several times and it was always going to be on the cards, as the saying goes it was just a matter of time!
Well this time came a lot sooner than expected since the building we were in ended up getting sold, usually getting notice that the building you are renting has been sold is bad news but in this occasion it was heaven-sent since it gave us the option to find a building that suited us!
Funny enough the first building I went out to look at ended up being the place Ashley and Darryl brought but I’ll get back to that soon. The first building that an offer was placed on never went through but in saying that the workshop side of it (even though the area was huge) wasn’t so ideal due to all the pillars everywhere.
So after looking at several buildings Ashley got around to looking at the first building I looked at and had already decided he had to have it! It made perfect sense too since the front half of the building was/is perfect as a Showroom/Office area and as the second half had already been used as storage for car parts it wouldn’t take to much to turn it into ABTEC’s workshop!
Preparing for a move can sometimes be just as stressful as the move itself, in this case it wasn’t so much stressful but intense due to trying to continue with everyday business while most the stock has been boxed up tends to slow you down.
Once all the packing was all done Ashley and I had to dissemble a few shelves etc at the old Head-Office which ended up taking longer than expected but finally everything was set to go!
When it came to the move everything was pretty full on, the one truck load ended up being six or seven loads and everyone was full steam ahead except for myself with a self-inflicted back injury (Very very bad timing too) but luckily enough a good customer turned up and clicked it into place!
Enough about me though, once everything had been moved it was time to start sorting everything out and easy as it sounds it became very time consuming due to still having engineers/builders on site strengthening the building to meet the new earthquake standards.
As I stated before their was a lot of steel work to be installed by a local group of engineers so the building can withhold up to an 7.5 magnitude earthquake which is apparently the new earthquake standard. My understanding is if the big one (earthquake that is) hits most of Petone would fall apart but after seeing all the work that was done here at ABTEC I’d feel pretty safe in this building.
Apart from the strengthening of the building their was a lot of building to be done too, which included the building of our Home Theatre Sound Room & numerous shelves and benches throughout the two buildings. The final touches were having all the sign-writing placed onto the buildings and getting to see them at night which almost lights the whole street up!
Now the Showroom and Workshop had been completed we all could appreciate all the work, time and effort that had gone into it! Which included working late into the night for a few of us and the fact of no matter how late Ashley worked he was still the first here, even after we had also ran an event at the V 4 & Rotary Jamboree in Feilding on a Sunday in between all of what was going on!
The outcome of all this work & time is just amazing if I do say so myself and it feels so much better having our own space again allowing all of us to work more efficiently again due to not be all crammed into a little box on a not so ideal location.
I’d like to finish off as I do by thanking first of all the people involved with the move, all the engineers/builders/Sign-writers/Tradesman that worked on the building to get it to a standard that we all were happy with, our Suppliers for the continued support and products they supply, all the ABTEC boys partners/Wives for putting up with the constant long hours and last but not least you the customers because without you we would not where we are now without your support!
A last quick note, feel free to drop into our NEW location at 49 Hutt Road Petone for all your Car Audio & Security needs or even to check out the NEW shop and say hi!