"grandfathering" a business is a practice that allows an existing business to continue doing business "as is" that a new start up shop would not be allowed to do by law... [/quote]

Doh! Sorry Minivan, my mistake, I thought you were referring to pricing structure. He may have been "grandfathered in" since he took over the business from his dad.

BTW, one of the things that the owner at Escondido Chrome (E-C) warned me about is that some platers will literally grind the old plating off rather than chemically strip. He says this cuts cost and saves time, but results in some pretty ugly waviness. Others try to flash-plate over the old chrome if its decent which will look good at first, but will start peeling within a couple years. E-C chemically strips before any repairs or plating.