KC Trends Motorsports Keeps You Driving in Style

Enthusiasts in desperate need of some automotive eye candy should make a point to browse the Instagram feed of KC Trends Motorsports. From tastefully lifted Jeeps and timeless German luxury, to menacing six-figure exotics and slick C8 Vettes, the shop’s endless scroll of possibility will have you cashing in that 401k a decade too soon.

An effective sales and marketing pitch if you’re the Midwest’s premier source for the aftermarket’s hottest wheels, tires, parts and accessories, don’t you think?

Keeping It Fresh

For the team at KC Trends, customization isn’t just a job, says owner Chad Dearth. “It’s a lifestyle.”

“We’re here to create this hype,” he says. “When you go to a movie and you see the posters and trailers, you get excited. That’s the vibe we want to put off when you come to our store – we want to excite you with what’s coming.”

Instagram’s visual structure serves this goal well, delivering little hits of automotive serotonin every day. (A welcome gift for gearheads coping with canceled car shows and weekend meets.) Sketched out on the platform’s grid is an impressive professional portfolio, showcasing the business’ wide variety of services through some truly enviable builds. Tap on the shop’s Insta Story and you’ll get a closer look at the creative muscle behind the scenes.

For Dearth, these simple tools pay big dividends – mainly by helping him stay connected to young, trend-setting enthusiasts.

“As I’ve gotten older, I’m not too stubborn to realize what I think is cool isn’t what a 17-year-old kid thinks is cool,” he says. “We just want to keep that excitement going – let people know that we’re here, we’re evolving with the times, and we’re not stuck in the past doing the same thing we did five years ago.”

Besides, Dearth himself was once a bright-eyed teenage enthusiast. And despite being a lover of lowriders, minitrucks, and niche trends, it was a Dodge Viper in the showroom of a local exotic car dealership that turned out to be his gateway drug to car culture. The style, the performance, the cachet – something about that ride made Dearth realize how badly he wanted to own a vehicle that not only turned heads, but also drummed up real, tangible excitement everywhere he went.

Seizing Opportunity

Inspired, Dearth began mapping out tailored mods to his own ride, a 1986 Mazda B2000 mini truck. However, he quickly realized that the contemporary West Coast styling he saw in Lowrider Magazine or Truckin’ Magazine was difficult to source in the heart of America’s Breadbasket.

“No one in my area sold the brands or styles that I liked, and nobody knew how to mount tires how I wanted, which was kind of a stretched look on big 15×10” wide wheels back then,” he explains. “So, I found myself scouring magazines, making phone call after phone call to shops in LA, and finally I found a connection, saved enough money, and got the wheels I wanted for this minitruck.”

Making the wheel and tire package work took some finessing, but when Dearth finally figured it out and drove to school, the final result resonated with his peers. Before long, classmates were asking him to customize their vehicles. Dearth opened up shop in his dad’s basement, and the seeds of KC Trends Motorsports began to take root.

“I set up accounts with some of the companies in LA, and they’d laugh and say: ‘Oh, you’re in Kansas? Do you guys even have cars there? Don’t you ride horses to work?’” he recalls.

But being young and hungry paid off. In addition to getting in on the ground floor of new companies, Dearth’s adolescent enthusiasm earned him some special treatment.

“If there was a 400 wheel buy-in, they’d say, ‘You’re 19. You’re in Kansas – nobody is gonna buy a wheel in Kansas. So, I tell ya what, we’ll sell you four,’” he says with a laugh. “So, it started out in this really unique way where I was buying direct from the manufacturer in very small quantities, but as those brands grew, so did we.”

Making the Dream Work

Dearth launched his first brick-and-mortar in 1992. The small Shawnee retail shop opened with limited hours to suit its mostly high-school clientele and to accommodate Dearth’s two side gigs that were keeping inventory on the shelves. Today the business resides in Overland Park, runs six days a week with 15 employees, and boasts a 10,000 sq.-ft. showroom with over 800 wheels on display. Tinting, paint protection, and custom accessory installation have joined the list of available services, though wheels and tires remain KC Trends’ bread and butter.

“I realized at a young age how much impact a simple set of wheels and tires could have on the looks of a vehicle. That’s what drew my passion for the aftermarket business.”

Dearth’s vehicle selection has evolved, too. Replacing that old-school minitruck are a 2015 Ferrari F12, 2021 GMC Sierra AT4, and – perhaps most buzzworthy – a 2020 Corvette convertible. Dearth says the new C8s are rolling into KC Trends in droves, largely thanks to Chevy finally delivering a model with younger appeal. Gone is the stigma of “the old guy in jean shorts and New Balances,” jokes Dearth. Enthusiasts recognize the new Corvette’s “world-class look and feel,” he says, and their desire to customize with fresh wheels and tires makes it a big push for business.

Quality Partnerships

Other major revenue streams include the Ford F-150 and Silverado, as well as four-door Jeep Wranglers and a growing number of Gladiators. Both dealers and walk-in retail customers gravitate toward KC Trends’ popular aftermarket package that includes a level kit, wheels and tires, and window tint. The option usually opens the door to other accessories, with customers reaching for step bars, fender flares, and bed covers as common add-ons.

In addition to serving a large FUEL, BDS, and ReadyLIFT crowd, KC Trends Motorsports turns to Keystone Automotive Operations, Inc. for its TrailFX brand – “A good price-point with quality behind it,” says Dearth. Fan-favorite wheel brands include Forgiato, Vossen, HRE, Asanti, and AG Luxury.

One unexpected growth opportunity for the shop has been Tesla, with many owners coming in for window tint and paint protection. And while Dearth agrees everyone is pumped for the new Bronco and what it will mean for the aftermarket, he notes there is a lot of excitement in his local market for the new Tahoes, Suburbans, Yukons, and Escalades.

“Another pretty cool niche that we have is the used luxury car market,” adds Dearth. “We get used Mercedes S classes, Bentleys, GTs, BMW 7 series, a lot of the used big Audis – cars that would cost $150,000-$200,000 new that get picked up used for $75,000-$80,000. And, we do wheels, tires, tints, suspension mods – the car looks as good or better than it did new.”

In Overland Park, specifically, the exotic car market is particularly hot, says Dearth. It also grows by the day as wealthy city-dwellers fleeing states like New York discover the exceptional cost of living in the Midwest, he explains.

“When the Royals won the World Series in 2015, it really put a spotlight on the city,” says Dearth, who credits much of the region’s development to notable sports successes.

Finding Inspiration

To keep a finger on the pulse of changing trends, Dearth adopts a wide-angle view. He travels to LA often and visits fellow customization shops around the country to bring back fresh ideas. Believing variety fosters creativity, Dearth also makes a conscious effort to hire employees who are not just enthusiasts but who also sit across the spectrum of car culture. Pop into KC Trends during work hours and you’ll catch everything from a bagged Nissan to a lifted Tahoe.

SEMA earns credit as a major motivator too, particularly for its ability to serve up incredible build inspiration and priceless networking opportunities. Those relationships are key, says Dearth, highlighting the valuable connections he made over the years with industry leaders and visionaries – guys who helped define car culture, like former racecar driver and founder of Weld Wheel Industries, Greg Weld; hot rod designer Boyd Coddington; and Myles Kovacs of DUB Magazine.

According to Dearth, professionals like Kovacs are pushing back against a noticeable lack of creativity in the industry caused by longstanding companies opting to “cash out” with investment firms. Kovacs’ wheel brands – TIS and Dropstars – showcase what Dearth feels are truly unique designs that appeal to a contemporary audience.

“Anymore, it’s not just about the biggest wheel or a certain color wheel,” he explains. “It’s about the fitment. It’s about picking a truck, and making a wheel around that vehicle. So, we’re seeing more wheel companies tailoring their designs to specific vehicles than we did in the past.”

Next-Gen Trends

This changing dynamic in the industry recalibrated the scale of trend-setting, says Dearth, who believes enthusiasts picked up the mantle in recent years. As the internet continues to dole out viral fame, a clever vehicle mod can manifest a profit center before you even hit the “like” button.

“Being in business 30 years in Kansas City, it’s really cool to see the generational change,” says Dearth. “Now, longtime customers come in and introduce their own kids to the shop. That’s great, because I remember a time around the 2007-2010 mark where it seemed like kids just lost all interest in cars.”

Seeing the waning enthusiasm, KC Trends introduced a weekly car show called “Fast Fridays,” that was open to everyone and operated first come first serve. “That meant, if the high school kid with the Honda Civic lowered on some wheels showed up before the guy in the Ferrari or the Bentley, the kid in the Civic got the good spot,” says Dearth.

The event was a quick success, gaining KC Trends new fans and some great PR. Unfortunately, like all things loud and fun, Fast Fridays caught the attention of city officials. The shop toned back the events over the years, and even went virtual during the pandemic. This year, however, Dearth is happy to report KC Trends will be hosting Fast Fridays again starting in April.

“It’s not about our customers showing off their cars, it’s about the entire city coming out to show off their cars,” he says. “We started it to get kids back into cars and it’s worked really well for us – it’s something we love to do.”

Online sales channels and social media blasts are surefire ways to get your name in front of a young audience. But as the virtual world expands, the stakes rise for brick-and-mortar shops like KC Trends Motorsports. Fostering young enthusiasts isn’t just good for car culture – it’s good for business.

 

KC Trends Motorsports
13300 Grand View
Overland Park, KS 66213
1-913-962-5200
https://www.kctrends.com/