By Alex Dugas
Ottawa, Ontario — November 30, 2017 — Turning one year old is always a cause for celebration. FinishMaster entered the Canadian market one year ago with its inaugural shop in Ottawa, Ontario. The shop, managed by Nicole Constantineau, has enjoyed months of successful implementation, which was recently celebrated in style at the ‘Les Trois Brasseurs’ restaurant in Ottawa.
Collision Repair magazine was on the scene to take in the celebration and also to visit the Ottawa facility, which recently moved to a new location this past May. The new location offers the Ottawa team a much more spacious environment in which they are able to provide services including training painters and preppers on how to use their products.
You may remember our coverage of FinishMaster’s entry into the Canadian market last year when we covered the opening of the Scarborough location. After a year of successful operations, we were glad to participate in the one-year anniversary celebration.
“Today’s event serves to celebrate the openness and success of this first FinishMaster in the region, but most of all, to thank our shop workers for contributing to this success with us,” said Ms. Constantineau.
FinishMaster Ottawa offers close to 400,000 finishing products to the region’s workshops, along with a range of state-of-the-art equipment that meets automakers’ standards for certifications, and a bilingual service.
“We have all the winning elements: dedicated business partners and a team of seasoned experts, combined with a new generation that represents the future of our industry,” added Constantineau, who counts more than thirty years of experience in the industry.
Michel Charbonneau, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for the Uni-Select bodyshop division, was also present to highlight the success of this first FinishMaster in the region as well as to meet customers and suppliers gathered for the occasion.
“Ottawa is one of the largest automotive markets in Canada,” said Charbonneau. “The need for the company was real and it was very important for Uni-Select to ensure a presence. The FinishMaster formula certainly had its place; we have the team to grow it and I am proud to celebrate this achievement. “
Jeff Murphy, Director PBE Sales, Eastern Canada for Uni-Select, held an auction during the celebration evening. The auction allowed the FinishMaster Ottawa team to donate to the Roger Nelson House, a pediatric palliative care facility. Auctioned items included signed hockey player posters, hockey equipment and a bottle of cogniac.
The event was a wonderful opportunity to meet the shop’s staff as well as to hear about the success of the company on Candian soil. Please join Collision Repair magazine in celebrating FinishMaster’s first year in Canada!
For more information on FinishMaster, please visit finishmaster.com.
