Earl Scheib

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Earl Scheib is a company that specializes in repainting and collision repair of automobiles, with locations in 23 states in the US.

1 Company History
2 Fast Track Management
3 Earl Scheib in Popular Culture
4 External References

[edit] Company History

Founded by Earl Scheib (February 28, 1908-February 29, 1992) in Los Angeles in 1937 the company grew quickly following World War II and by 1975 had branches in Germany and England, all company owned, with Scheib manufacturing his own paint. Scheib's policy of one-day service and production line techniques flew directly into the face of state-of-the-art professional auto body standards.

Scheib has been plagued with a high employee turnover rate due to the demands of attempting to paint up to five cars a day. The company's main criteria in hiring and promoting management trainees is based on sales skills only. Knowledge of auto body repair or painting techniques is not required. Trainees undergo a short training period and are then assigned to their own shops. Any Manager who fails to increase sales for three successive months is fired, regardless of seniority or standing.^{[citation needed]} Due to these high pressure sales demands, most talented trainees quickly move on to other more progressive organizations. Auto body, painting and prep personnel are represented by The Teamsters Union.

[edit] Fast Track Management

In 1997 the company devised a "Fast Track" Management training program and recuited college and business school graduates for immediate placement in upper middle management positions, requiring relocation to another State upon completion of the program. Scheib's corporate office and shareholders were dismayed to find that 85% of those participating in the program resigned upon relocation. After Scheib's death the company was sold to a group of investors led by former college basketball champions Chris Bement and Dan Siegal, who made his fortune in Las Vegas winnings. The company was restructured, and improvements were made in the quality of paint. Today, Scheib's paints are equal in quality to the best automotive paints.

In 1999, the company began closing branches and selling corporate properties to show a profit to shareholders. The organization has reduced the number of its shops as a result of this practice, with most of its centers in the western United States, where rust and corrosion is less likely to be a problem.[1]

[edit] Earl Scheib in Popular Culture

Earl Scheib appeared in local television commercials up through the 1990s. Scheib would tell the camera "Riiight, "I'll paint any car, any color for twenty-nine ninety-five! Riiiiiiight!" Scheib's tagline "riiiiiiight" became a colloquial reference.
The company was mentioned in a scene of The Nutty Professor, where Buddy Love told the following joke in a club: "Your mama's so fat, she gets her toenails painted at Earl Scheib!"
During one Tonight Show monologue, Johnny Carson quipped that Princess Caroline's new boyfriend was 'The Earl of Scheib'.
Madison, WI post-punk band Killdozer has a song entitled "Earl Scheib" on their Uncompromising War on Art Under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat LP