October 1, 2007

Amp Research: Tweaking Trucks for Function, Looks

Costa Mesa Company Offers London Cabs for Hotels; Fullerton’s Taj Mahal of Batting Cages

By Jessica C. Lee

Irvine’s Amp Research knows how to rev up a truck.

The company does $25 million in yearly sales making bed extenders, alloy fuel tank doors and steps for trucks and sports utility vehicles.

Amp Research sells products to auto and auto parts makers on its own and through distributors such as Colorado’s Bestop Inc.

The company develops and owns patents on accessories that are designed to make trucks and SUVs easier to use.

AMP Research’s Bed X-Tenders are made out of bent aluminum pipes that can extend the back of a pickup truck by nearly 2 feet so that drivers can load their beds with big things such as mountain bikes and surfboards.

Its Power Step helps shorter drivers get into tall trucks and SUVs with a motorized step that swings into place when the vehicle door opens and then tucks itself under the car when the door closes.

Some of the company’s products, like the shiny, alloy fuel doors found on newer models of the Mitsubishi Eclipse, are just for looks.

Amp Research buys materials from local suppliers. Inside the company’s 40,000-square-foot Irvine headquarters, about half of its 90 workers make, assemble and package products.

Contract shippers are tapped to get products to auto parts stores and wholesalers such as Compton-based 4 Wheel Parts Wholesalers LLC. Automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. send their own trucks to pick up orders.

Former motorcycle racing champion and engineer Horst Leitner started Amp Research in 1980 after coming to Orange County from Austria.

Leitner overcame the usual challenges that entrepreneurs face when starting a new business, such as a lack of experience, money, help and time.

His family lived in a motor home for eight months while Leitner built his business.

For the first decade, Amp Research made suspension parts for motorcycles and mountain bikes.

By the late 1990s, the company sold its motorcycle and bike patents and entered the auto market with its first product, the truck bed extender.

Amp Research has been steadily growing since then, according to spokesman Mark Wronski. But there are a slew of issues challenging the business, he said.

The rising cost of materials, fuel, labor and rent are just some of the variables that make it hard for an OC manufacturer to stay profitable, he said.

Global competition is another issue, especially when makers in other countries make copycat products, he said.

Amp Research tries to maintain its foothold on the truck accessory industry by defending its patents and keeping a watchful eye on what competitors are making, Wronski said.

“Our business is key on proprietary products that we design so we have to be very diligent on keeping track of competition. We take our patents very seriously,” he said.

This year, Amp Research came out with a retractable step that helps drivers climb into their truck beds. Wronski said the company plans to come out with more devices for trucks and SUVs.

“We’re really trying to meet the growing demands and continuing to innovate,” Wronski said.

London-Style Rides

Her Majesty’s Ride Inc. is bringing a bit of British charm to the streets of OC.

The company provides London-style black cabs for guests at upscale hotels including at its headquarters in the Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa.

Her Majesty’s Ride uses cabs made by Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC’s London Taxis International Ltd. of Britain.

They hold up to five passengers and are decked out with wheel chair accessible features, hearing aid compatible speakers and upholstery inspired by designer handbag prints.

To top off the British flair, the cabs have nicknames that evoke British culture such as “Big Ben” and “fish and chips.”

“We’re bringing a little bit of English charm to Orange County,” founder Eduardo Delgado said.

Unlike traditional cabs, Her Majesty’s Ride charges a flat rate that costs 15% to 20% more than the average taxi ride. A ride from the Hilton in Costa Mesa to John Wayne Airport could cost about $8 with a regular cab. Her Majesty’s Ride charges about $12.

The upside to paying a flat, albeit more expensive rate, is that passengers don’t have to worry about paying for time when they’re stuck in traffic, Delgado said. Her Majesty’s cabs aren’t metered.

The company is servicing hotels but hopes to offer corporate and personal services, Delgado said.

Delgado started the company earlier this year after he sold Evening Star Transportation in 2006, a limousine company also based at the Hilton in Costa Mesa. When Delgado sold the business, Evening Star Transportation had 18 limousines.

Like all businesses, starting Her Majesty’s Ride was time consuming and expensive. Delgado said he knew what to expect.

“Starting a business is never easy, it takes a lot of time and money,” he said. “But I’ve been through this before and in the end, it’s a lot of fun.”

Her Majesty’s Ride has four cabs. Delgado expects to have 20 cabs and sales in the $350,000 to $500,000 range by 2008, he said.

Up to Bat

Fullerton’s Up Your Average hopes to hit a homerun.

Up Your Average is a 20,000-square-foot indoor batting cage where baseball and softball players can practice their cuts.

The company employs three full-time workers and taps professional instructors who offer training sessions for kids and teens who want to practice their pitching and batting.

Up Your Average opened its doors to the public earlier this summer in a nondescript industrial neighborhood in Fullerton. As far as batting cages go, it’s pretty posh, with flat TVs on the wall and automated pitching gear.

Founder Jack Lucas spent about two years planning his business after working in the air conditioning business for nearly 20 years.

A former semi-professional baseball player and sports enthusiast, Lucas said he decided to take a stab at becoming an entrepreneur when he grew sick of working the typical day job, he said.

Lucas decided to open a place that excluded all of the things he hated about traditional batting cages—filthy facilities and having to pick up balls after a batting session.

He spent months searching for a large warehouse to start his business. He eventually decided to open Up Your Average in Fullerton because the rents were cheaper, and the city is known as a baseball town thanks to California State University, Fullerton’s championship baseball team.

Lucas said he faced some opposition from nearby residents when he approached the city with his business plan. Some were worried that the business would attract rowdy customers who would loiter around nearby homes, he said.

He spent a few months paying rent before knowing whether his business would win city approval, he said. Spending money on rent for a business that had yet to be approved was scary, Lucas said.

“I just had to wait it out,” he said.

Once Fullerton approved Lucas’ business, he spent the next year and a half remodeling his building with batting cages and equipment provided by Oklahoma’s American Iron Sports LLC.

Lucas’ lack of experience dealing with building permits and city compliance issues made the entire construction process lengthy and stressful, he said.

In all, Lucas spent roughly $750,000 getting his business off the ground. As expensive as the costs were for a small-business owner like himself, the time and money he spent getting to where he is now was worth the wait, he said.

“Getting started had its scary moments but it was worth it,” he said.

Lucas already is thinking about the long run.

This year, Lucas plans to start workshop classes for individuals and teams. He also plans to sponsor little league baseball and softball teams to get the word out about his business. Programs for handicap and economically disadvantaged youth are also in the works, he said.

Depending on how well Up Your Average is received by customers, Lucas said he could end up franchising the business.