Putting the gloss on Glitter Strip
A COAST businesswoman has been adding gloss to our most prestigious properties for decades as head of one of Australia’s leading two-pac providers.
Marie Nakic founded Biggera Waters-based Pro2Pac in 2005 after moving from Sydney to be closer to her family.
Her sister and brother-inlaw had a large joinery business, which they had moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast.
Ms Nakic said they needed someone to do their two-pac work.
“I took on the guy who did their work in Sydney as a business partner and he trained me in two-pac,” she said. “I had no idea what it was. Eighteen months later I bought him out.”
Her sister’s business was her first client.
“They do a lot of commercial high-rise work in Sydney and Gold Coast,” she said.
“I thought I would just be doing work for them but then I identified a niche on the Gold Coast.”
She said many cabinet makers were using multiple twopac shops because most were not large enough to handle big orders on their own.
The business grew, doing everything from bathroom doors to luxurious kitchens, moving from a small factory in Arundel to a large one in Biggera Waters until the Global Financial Crisis struck.
“Like everyone we were hanging on by our fingertips,” she said. “Our sales halved in that period so I guess that was a good way of separating the good operators from the bad. We were fortunate enough to have partnered with some great joinery companies and cabinet makers on the Gold Coast. They had work during that period.”
Ms Nakic said those relationships led to work for developers of the Soul and Oracle towers as well as other large-scale residential developments.
“Our cabinet makers had strong relationships with the big builders that wanted us to continue doing their work. They were happy we could do the volume and our finishes were great so they would request us.”
She said the greatest challenge was moving from a corporate culture, having been charged with marketing for Caltex Australia, to taking the helm of a small business.
“I was dealing with staff who had a different work ethic and goals,” she said.
“I have a worker who has been with me for 14 years. When I started he had never had a full-time job. He is now my operations manager and well regarded in the industry.
“I have a lot of staff who have worked for me since I started.”
The company, which provides a full range of finishes and colours in both two-pac and single-pac in gloss, satin, automotive metallic pearls and all clear lacquer finishes and staining, has 100 jobs under way at any one time.
Not all jobs are the same. “We had a piano here that has been in the family for more than 100 years,” she said.
“The wife wanted to give it to her husband looking new again for his 50th birthday. We had to strip it back, she wanted it black, and there were at least 25 coats of clear lacquer so it was like an ice-skating rink. It was beautiful.”
Ms Nakic said she plans to make further inroads into the home renovator market, which currently makes up about 20per cent of the business.
“I see that changing and we are gearing ourselves up to be more available to the home renovator market,” she said.