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Press Releases
PRESTIGE DETAILING EXPLODES INTO ITS THIRD SEASON
Owning and operating his own business was about the farthest thing from Kirk Benedict's mind that summer day two years ago when he came to Annapolis. Kirk had just finished his second year of Law School in Michigan and was planning on spending the summer with his parents, Charlie and Colleen Benedict, in the Academy town before returning to school for his third and final year. Charlie and Colleen had moved to Annapolis from Chicago just two years before that, and Kirk had never experienced the ambience that comes with living by the Bay. He was looking forward to spending the time with his parents and getting to know the area. Once here, to pass some time and earn spending money, he washed a boat. Then he waxed a boat. He washed and waxed another boat. Then he called his brother Keith in Buffalo, New York, and suggested that he had found the key to a profitable business opportunity for both of them. Keith, involved in investment banking at the time, recognized the potential and commuted to Annapolis two or three days a week to explore the possibilities and to help meet a growing demand. Within a month, the brothers had established Prestige Detailing, LLC, and by the end of the summer, Keith too had moved to Annapolis.
The demand for services was relentless, and the business quickly grew from the detailing and maintenance of watercraft to include the detailing of automobiles and aircraft as well. Not even two years old, the company has grown from the mere thought and two brothers working long hours to meet a burgeoning demand to an established business employing numerous individuals and leasing its own building at Mears Marina in Annapolis. The business continues to expand; the company recently acquired Above the Water Line, another small detailing business in the Annapolis area, whose former owner, Ann Miller, will now work for Prestige Detailing. With the acquisition, the company has more than doubled its customer base. The services offered have expanded from the basic washing, waxing, and interior detailing of boats and automobiles to include full winterization, shrink wrapping, and dive services as well. The company provides services for customers and marinas throughout the mid-Bay area, including the Baltimore and Annapolis areas and the Eastern Shore. It serviced and maintained yachts for the Annapolis boat show last fall and has numerous contracts with brokers throughout the area to prepare watercraft for sale.
The phenomenal success of the company has been no accident. It has come as the result of a careful business plan initiated by the two brothers and the faithful and industrious execution of that plan. At the very foundation of the plan is an insistence on quality and customer satisfaction. "Our goal as business owners," Kirk recently stated in an interview, "is to provide a top-shelf quality service to our clients, a better than expected job every time, guaranteed." As one then-prospective and now-loyal customer told Kirk, who never fails to answer his mobile phone, "I've been trying to get my boat ready for launch, and you're the only one who has answered the phone on a Sunday afternoon!" That philosophy of providing exceptional service and value for the prices charged has been well rewarded with a loyal and expanding customer base.
The company is looking forward to its third full year of operation as the 2006 boating season gets underway. Its schedule is filling rapidly for de-winterization services, bottom painting, cleaning, waxing, and interior detailing, and in-the-water hull cleaning. With its new fixed location and yard space at Mears Marina, it expects to expand its services once again this year to include various mechanical services as well. Prestige Detailing is located at 419 Chester Avenue in Annapolis and can be reached at 410-267-6860.
The brothers have never looked back. Kirk's third year of law school is on hold, and Keith has no plans to return to banking. "We love Annapolis and the entire Bay area," they both agree, "and we look forward to a long and successful relationship with all our friends and customers in the boating industry." While not foreclosing the possibility of some day earning his law degree, Kirk emphasized that for now at least the intent of both brothers is to continue the expansion of the company they founded and the services it provides. "Besides," he said with just the beginnings of an impish grin crossing his face, "for now at least the lawyers and accountants are working for us."