South Holland Welcomes Unique Family Business to the Community

Lee Edwards | As of Thursday, June 12, 2014

South Holland Village President Don A. De Graff (center) cut the ceremonial ribbon welcoming Xtreme Kustoms Wheels & Electronics, 518 E. 162nd St., South Holland, IL, to the community last week.
South Holland Village President Don A. De Graff (center) cut the ceremonial ribbon welcoming Xtreme Kustoms Wheels & Electronics, 518 E. 162nd St., South Holland, IL, to the community last week. Photo by Lee Edwards.

The Village of South Holland held a ribbon cutting ceremony to welcome Xtreme Kustoms Wheels & Electronics, 518 East 162nd St, South Holland, IL, to the community last week. Xtreme Kustoms Wheels & Electronics is an African American family-owned and operated business that provides custom vehicle wheels and tire, alarm integration, remote starting systems, stereo installation, among other automotive customizing services.

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Photo by: Lee Edwards

Darin Bosley, Manny Alvarez, Jeanette Anderson, and Ricky Nettles of Xtreme Kustoms Wheels & Electronics,518 E. 162nd St., South Holland, IL.

“We left Calumet City to come here; we know that we’re a family owned business that’s Christian as well and we love the aspect of South Holland that’s a Christian based community,” said General Manager Jeanette Anderson. “And the traffic that’s coming down 159th St., there’s a lot of traffic here, and we realize now we are getting more customers in this location.”

“We’re all about supporting new business and when you have a business like this that provides a wonderful product, with wonderful people, a good family business, it’s what South Holland is all about so we’re very thankful they’re here,” said South Holland Village President Don A. De Graff, who cut the ceremonial ribbon welcoming Xtreme Kustoms to the community. “Xtreme Kustoms has a reputation of providing great electronics, great wheels, [and] great accessories for cars. For them to be in South Holland it gives me great pride, I’m thankful for that.

According to Anderson, Xtreme Kustoms Wheels & Electronics has been in business for eight years and employs her father, the president of the company, sisters, several of her cousins and other relatives. She described her family as “car enthusiasts and bike enthusiasts” and that her family’s business is meeting a demand car owners have for high quality customization.

“All business is good but when you have family business, where you have fathers and mothers and sons and daughters and sometimes grandsons and granddaughters all participating in a business, it’s very unique,” said De Graff.

Anderson explained some of the daily gender based stereotypes she had to endure and dispelled race as a hurdle as it pertains to working in the automotive industry.

“Being a woman in this business, a lot of people don’t expect a woman to be very knowledgeable about vehicles and bikes,” said Anderson. “I’m definitely passionate; I love working around cars and [I’m] very involved in it as well, making sure that we keep the same contacts and going to different shows. To me in this business, [there are] not a lot of minority businesses operating in this area but I find that it’s not difficult at all, it’s very open.”

Anderson takes it upon herself to ensure that women who enter Xtreme Kustoms do not feel intimidated by the surroundings in what is typically identified as a male dominated culture.

For more information visit http://www.xtremekustomwheels.com/.

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