11-1-2016, Mobile Electronics November Issue -- Las Vegas has many names. The City That Never Sleeps, City of Lights, Disneyland for adults and Sin City top the list. But today, it has a dual identity. By night, it's an adult playground. By day, a resort destination where millions of families flock each year to experience its gorgeous pools, lavish buffets, shows for different ages and theme park attraction rides like the roller coaster at New York, New York. One could say, the city has something for everyone.
In that spirit, the same can be said of Industry Auto Designs Las Vegas, a destination for auto enthusiasts looking to both repair and enhance their vehicles, all at once. For owner Andrew Evens, creating a one-stop-shop came naturally, given his background as a born wrench monkey.
"Since I was a kid, I've always had tools in my hand. My dad worked in a body shop. He would always bring home stuff to tinker with. I had a carburetor as a toy. I remember the springs on it," Evens said. "My mom's father was always into wood working and would build stuff for the county fair. Whenever we went to his house as kids, we were always painting something. It's like Karate Kid. You don't realize why you're doing it at the time but looking back, you realize how much you learned as a kid. I was lucky enough to have those two influences to set my path."
As Evens got older, he worked with his dad at the body shop to earn an allowance. His work focused on wiring, replacing things like harnesses. "Come high school time, my friends were really happy because I had a shop to work out of and would do their stuff on the side," Evens added. "When I was about 14, I was putting in radios and wiring cars. I would charge them and get rides to school out of it. I was always the one negotiating to get a ride the next morning, to avoid taking the bus. It was always good side money."
Having what he called "normal retail jobs" as a teenager didn't stop Evens from continuing to learn anything and everything automotive when he could. For the duration of high school, Evens's dad, Mike, owned a body shop that allowed him to continue his education. At the age of 15, Evens bought his first car thanks to a wholesale deal with local dealer Premier Audio, which would soon take on Evens as his apprentice. While there, Evens learned both through wiring books and by installing remote starts and car alarms. "That came on pretty easy and I was pretty much running his shop," Evens said.
After high school, Evens attended ITT Technical Institute in Williamsville, N.Y., looking to learn the trade of computer drafting and design given his love of the structural engineering concept. "I took every course there was to take. I took drafting and residential structures and a bunch of the engineering courses. I took everything I could take technology-wise," Evens said. "I liked drawing, electrical schematics and computers at the time. The problem is that most of those job offerings were 11 bucks an hour. I was already making $40 to $50,000 as an installer. So I went mainstream doing car audio full time."
Evens began working at Stereo Advantage in Williamsville, spending four years picking up as much 12-volt knowledge as he could. After his stint there, he became store manager at Circuit City, but didn't last given the lack of excitement he experienced.
"That was kind of boring to me. All the radios had harnesses. There was not a lot of actual installing there," he said. "It was good money. But they started to close down stores because they paid too well."
By 2004, Evens had the itch to move. He thought about a place that was warm and would give him a fresh start. Las Vegas sprang to mind. "Everything was built out here, it was sunny with palm trees," Evens said. So he rented out his house in New York, moved to Vegas and took a job as an install manager at Audio Excellence. After about eight months, Evens had a reputation in town, given that as an automotive community, Las Vegas is quite small. He did more research, landed at VIP Motoring, a high-end retailer and was able to fulfill his desire for large custom builds. But that too wouldn't last.
Once the housing market crashed, Evens found himself out of work. He became a union bartender in the nightclub scene. But he never forgot his roots, always keeping his tools close by to take on jobs whenever they arose. Soon enough, 2009 came, the market began to recover and Evens got that familiar itch again.
"I made a lot of money in the nightclub, but woke up one morning and said I didn't want to be around a bunch of drunk people anymore. I realized that these people have disposable income. They're about flash, buying the newest car out there. I decided it was a good idea to follow my passion," Evens said. "I took a month off from all work, found a spot with 1,200 square feet of space and opened my store." But there was much more to it than that.
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