Good Neighbor Podcast: Virginia Beach
Good Neighbor Podcast: Virginia Beach
Good Neighbor Podcast: Virginia Beach
Ep. 2 Exploring the World of Bintelli Golf Carts and Family Adventures in Virginia Beach
Discover the vibrant world of golf carts with John Hegedus, the passionate entrepreneur behind the newly opened Bintelli Golf Carts in Virginia Beach. John reveals how the bustling post-COVID industry drew him into a journey filled with family-friendly adventures and innovative mobility solutions. Sit back and enjoy as John sheds light on the unique qualities that set Bintelli apart—like their commitment to quality craftsmanship and exceptional customer service. With millions invested in inventory and parts, Bintelli ensures that their customers' experiences are seamless and satisfying.
Have you ever imagined golf carts beyond the confines of the golf course? John dismantles this common misconception by highlighting the versatility of family experience carts, designed for coastal communities like Virginia Beach. These four and six-seater carts, built with durable aluminum frames, redefine neighborhood and beachside transportation. Hear from John how Bintelli's approach to customer service forms the backbone of their operation, and why he finds immense joy in facilitating family outings and explorations. Whether you're an enthusiast or simply curious, this episode offers a fresh perspective on the expanding role of golf carts in everyday life.
Bintelli Golf Carts
John Hegedus
2325 Virginia Beach Blvd
Virginia Beach, VA 23454
948-356-0610
www.bintelligolfcarts.com
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Denise Taylor.
Speaker 2:Thanks for joining the show. Today we have episode number two. We have John Hegedus. Am I saying that? Right, perfect, okay, with Bintelli Golf Carts. They just opened here in Virginia Beach and we're just going to chat with him about why he's here in Virginia Beach and his business story. So tell us a little bit about the golf cart business.
Speaker 3:Sure. So, denise, like you were just saying, you know we we've just opened in Virginia beach. But Bintelli golf carts, you know it's our 18th store and it is we sell golf carts and we sell e-bikes. It is exciting to be in Virginia beach. Our brand is, you know, a top brand in the industry. It's just been rated the best golf cart in America, best LSV, best LSV under $13,000. So there's lots of great things about it, but we're excited to be there. Bintelli is a brand that's been in business for about 20 years, so we do our part to make sure that our carts are well built and we provide amazing service to our customers.
Speaker 2:Well, we're excited you guys are. You chose Virginia Beach to be in our coastal community, so tell us about how you got involved with golf carts. How did you come into this business?
Speaker 3:Sure, it's an interesting story. But you know, at the end of the day, in my career, throughout my career, I've always, you know, worked at great retailers and did great things and the golf cart industry was on fire after COVID and it's, at the end of the day, it's a fun business, right, like what's better than to sell something that families are going to get together and, you know, drive around the neighborhoods, drive around, go to restaurants, do what they do with them. And for that reason, you know, I came into the golf cart industry and Bintelli was the perfect partner. I came into the golf cart industry and Bintelli was the perfect partner and we were able to go after this environment, this model of, you know, providing a better golf cart experience, and you know our customers love it and you know our team members love it. So it's been a wild ride. But for me it was all about how exciting the industry was.
Speaker 2:Now you just said better golf cart experience. What does that mean from somebody outside of the golf cart industry?
Speaker 3:Sure. So you know, there's lots of places to buy a golf cart right, and there's lots of golf carts out there. So for me, I try to make sure that not only do we provide amazing customer service, we we stand behind our product. We you know Bintelli keeps millions of dollars worth of inventory parts on hand so that customers aren't down for a long time waiting on repairs. And you know it's. It's about building a quality golf cart, selling a quality golf cart and delivering a quality experience, and for us, it that begins our day and ends our day every single day.
Speaker 2:It begins our day and ends our day every single day. That's awesome. So tell us a little bit about if there's any. Are there any myths or misconceptions that you would hear about this particular industry or your business in general?
Speaker 3:Sure, you know, I think. I think a lot of people look at a golf, they hear golf carts and they think of the golf cart as being what you drive on a golf course. Right, the two-seater where golf bags go on the back, and yes, we sell that, but that's a very small percentage of the business. The majority of our business is that family experience cart right, that four-seater or six-seater cart, and families use it to take it to the pool and take it to the beach and you know, you see them all over the place in Virginia beach because you know it's a golf cart friendly area and the not all golf carts are built the same.
Speaker 3:Right, you know there's different qualities, just like everything else in life. But you know, for the beach area, we, our golf carts, have aluminum frames. They're better built. So you get a better golf cart and you get this, um, this different experience. But so many people when they hear golf cart stores they think of that two-seater that you play on the golf course. I'd say that's the biggest myth what?
Speaker 2:um, so it sounds like you're actually having a lot of fun in your business, but outside of this business, what do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:You know, at the end of the day I'm a family man. So you know, my wife and I have been married for 34 years and we've got great kids, do everything from a family perspective, even, you know, holidays everything is is about what we can do with the family and bring them together, because our boys have both graduated from college now, um, and both are engaged, so it's going to be a crazy that's awesome, yeah it's fun, so you know.
Speaker 3:but I would say for true fun, you know, other than going out and and going to the beach and going to the pool, I'd say, you know, hitting a golf ball, you know, get out there, hit a ball into the woods, go find it and hit it again, you know, just have fun.
Speaker 2:Good good. Can you describe, in this business or other businesses you've been a part of, any hardships or challenges that you've rose above that you've would want to share with other business owners to help them through that particular, maybe some sort of thing going on in their business?
Speaker 3:Sure, you know, I think the hardest thing is when you open a new store and you're trying to get a store going and you're trying to get all the pieces right, right, get through zoning, get permits, get licensing, get all these things to stay organized. And you know, I can honestly say our first store we opened we hit lots of roadblocks right Lots of things.
Speaker 3:Yeah, sure, we thought, you know the county said that we were going to the permitting process would take this amount of time, and it took twice as long, or the build outs took longer, and so my biggest learning was add more time and stay extremely organized through the process. The more touching, the more process you do. That works out fantastic, and I think it really makes the process of opening a new store work better, even to the degree of websites going live and your advertising going live and everything that you need to do. It's all got to be planned right, but you got to give yourself time to get through it.
Speaker 2:Did you have any of those bumps here in Virginia Beach?
Speaker 3:You know Virginia Beach got delayed like a week, so it really wasn't bad compared to some sites and you know the the construction team and the management team there did an amazing job building that store. I don't know we we basically had it was an old building that we restored and now it looks like this modern you know standout building and yeah, it's really it's on a great corner on great neck and laskin road or virginia beach boulevard.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's really made that intersection look just completely different. So aesthetically for virginia beach it's been a. It's really made that intersection look just completely different. So aesthetically for Virginia Beach it's been a really great thing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no doubt. I mean if you drive past that store and you go on Google and look what it used to look like, it was terrible yeah.
Speaker 2:So thank you for doing that. It's fresh, yes, yeah, so thank you for doing that. How can listeners learn more about or contact the store? Do you have somebody in Virginia Beach that you would want them to connect with?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we have a fantastic manager, brock. You know he's. He's all about the people, all about the customers, and you know they're. They can stop in the store. You know the store's um located on virginia beach boulevard. It's 2325 virginia beach boulevard, um. They can call. The phone number is 948-356-0610 but but they also can just go to bintelligolfcartscom. There'sa button click, send me information and we'll send you whatever information you need. Oh perfect, yeah, but brock's a fantastic uh person and what are your hours, your typical hours?
Speaker 3:so we're open from nine to six, tuesday through saturday. We give all of our team members sunday off to be with their families and then we close on mondays, so the team can have a two-day window together.
Speaker 2:And then, with the holidays coming up or any holiday season, what's your typical time to be able to get the golf carts in time for the holidays?
Speaker 3:So I would say, the earlier you go, the better. It's like everything else in life, especially if you're specific right. I want this exact card in this exact color and you know if you're specific right, I want this exact card in this exact color and you know, if you're, if you have more of a breath that you can go, you can get there later. But, um, but normally the turnaround process is, you know, anywhere from five to seven days to get a golf cart out to a customer, to their home, to be delivered to their home.
Speaker 3:When you get into the holidays there's a lot of deliveries and a lot of things to get packed into that last week. So I would, I would challenge listeners to you know, go December 1st if you're looking for it, you know, by December 25th, and give yourself plenty of time so that we can, we can deliver you that great experience. But our delivery is not drop off a golf cart and drive away, it's right and an hour with the customer going to everything. So they get that great experience and you know, so it takes a little bit longer, but our goal is to make sure that they're completely happy.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. So tell us your website again and your phone number again, sure.
Speaker 3:OK. Yeah it's Bintelligolfcarts. com and the phone number is 948-356-0610 and Brock's there to answer the phone.
Speaker 2:Perfect. Thank you so much, John, for being here today. We appreciate this new business in Virginia Beach. Look forward to working with you.
Speaker 3:Thanks, Denise. Appreciate your time today. Look forward to working with you. Thanks, Denise.
Speaker 1:Appreciate your time today. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpvirginiabeach. com. That's gnpvirginiabeach. com, or call 757-797-8852.