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Chattanooga-Based Moxie Van Co. 'Thriving' As Pandemic Redefines Leisure Travel

Chattanooga-Based Moxie Van Co. 'Thriving' As Pandemic Redefines Leisure Travel

Times Free Press Staff photo by Troy Stolt / Seen from left to right, Jody Sullins, Zach Brandon, Joey Fenstemaker, Justin Mace and Brad Cobb of Moxie Van Co.

Justin Mace's parents thought that when the time came for him to hit the working world, he should do it armed with more than just a book-based education.

"They thought I needed a trade," he recalls, "so every afternoon, after school, I went to welding school. I became a fabricator, worked at different shops and, ultimately, put myself through college. Those skills have come into play huge."

Mace is into his second year as owner/operator of Chattanooga-based Moxie Van, where he and his staff build vans designed for camping. While the COVID-19 pandemic has undermined small businesses everywhere, Mace says Moxie is "thriving."

"We built 15 vans last year," he says. "In a camper van, you can continue to travel as a family, go just about anywhere and stay to yourselves, distanced."

Mace says that while the pandemic has "blown up" demand for his products on the one hand, it has hamstrung him on the other. If it weren't for COVID-related supply-chain issues, he says, Moxie could probably have built five more vans in 2020.

"Some parts you can get, some you can't," he says. "Try to get a seat swivel right now, and it's a five-month wait."

A longtime dent-repair technician, Mace spent about 20 years subcontracting body work for Chattanooga-area car dealerships. During that span, he met Brad Cobb, who runs Bowers Automotive Group.

"We've been friends forever," says Cobb, a minority partner in Moxie Van who describes his principal contributions as "a sounding board and some design feedback."

Mace says he started building custom vans for himself, as a sort of sideline, in the mid-2010s. He says his first van was a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter he bought in North Carolina.

"I drove it home and spent more than six months building it out into a camper van," he recalls. "I drove it a little bit, then sold it in five days. The buyer flew in from Utah.

"That got my wheels turning," Mace says. "I probably did six or seven vans on my own that customers brought to me."

Spurred also by a sort of "challenge" from Cobb to see if he could build his sideline, Mace began to work toward launching what would be Moxie Van. He acquired space on Chattanooga's South Watkins Street and opened in early 2020.

"We got off to a really quick start," Mace says. "Practically as soon as I opened the bay doors, there were two vans sitting there.

"My initial goal for Moxie was to build custom-level camper vans, but more affordable and accessible. Having four set layouts gives a customer some options and allows us to build faster and with higher quality. If you're trying to build custom vans, every customer wants something different, and the cost will be twice as much," he says.

Cobb says he bought a Sprinter van in 2015 and sent it to Oregon to be outfitted because "there just weren't a lot of options back then." Even now, he says, most van outfitters on Moxie Van's level are way out west.

Mace says being east of the Mississippi River "is a big thing for us" because there are few competitors. He says most of his customers have come from Texas and points east.

But Cobb says Moxie Van's field is likely to get more crowded.

"It's a growing market," he says. "There will be some new builders getting in this year. It's going to come down to whoever can stay strong, stay in it."