Clock Mobility is the region’s largest wheelchair accessible vehicle dealer, offering new and used wheelchair accessible vehicles to meet the needs of individuals with mobility needs from across West Michigan and beyond.
The family-owned business began in Grand Rapids in 1972. Today, Clock serves its customers from its state-of-the-art headquarters at 6700 Clay Ave. in Grand Rapids, in addition to satellite locations in Kalamazoo, Lansing and Traverse City.
The Grand Rapids location is a beautiful 18,000-square-foot facility that houses the vehicle showroom, corporate offices, warehouse, conversion shop and repair facilities. Unlike some wheelchair accessible vehicle dealers in the market, Clock Mobility does its own modifications on site in addition to working with other companies around the country. The company offers repair services to modified vehicles of any make or model.
Brandon Cavagnaro is sales and rental manager at Clock Mobility, a role he’s played for more than a decade. “A lot has changed in our industry over the past 10 years,” said Cavagnaro. “It used to be a matter of outfitting a full-size van with lifts. Instead, today’s wheelchair accessible vehicles need to offer fuel efficiency, multiple options, style, and the fit and finish of their traditional passenger vehicle counterparts. These aren’t just utilitarian devices anymore, and that’s a great thing to see.”
Not only have aesthetics caught up; government regulation has too.
“Crash testing and structural policies are up to snuff as well, so today’s conversions are much more technically advanced than those in the past,” said Cavagnaro.
Clock stocks more than 60 vehicles at a time. With values of $50,000 – $65,000 per vehicle, it’s imperative that the dealership has a similarly skilled team to handle its burglary and fire safety systems.
“We partnered with EPS back in 1997, and they’ve been right by our side as we’ve added stores and expanded existing spaces,” said Cavagnaro. “Just this year we installed the EPS Total Connect system that allows me to set alarms, view who is coming and going and check alarm status from my smartphone, tablet or laptop. It’s a huge convenience when managing multiple properties at once.”
That remote connectivity is key because Clock Mobility continues to grow.
“We just added a Kalamazoo location this year, so we continue to see our customers coming back to us with a high level of trust,” said Cavagnaro.
Clock’s growth is not just due to a growing need for its services. Rather, how the company treats its customers has contributed significantly to the company’s steady growth and strong customer loyalty.
“Most of us have been stranded at one time or another, perhaps with a flat tire or an overheated engine,” explained Cavagnaro. “If our customers break down this can become more than just a frustrating experience, it can be a dangerous one. We look at our service as providing the freedom that everyone should enjoy, but there is a responsibility in that service and we take that very seriously. I believe our customers appreciate that, and our success is proof of that concept.”
For more information about Clock Mobility, visit www.clockmobility.com.