Making the Grade From Start to Finish
A & A 1st Choice LLC Provides Full-Service Construction, Maintenance for Austin-Area Clients
As its name implies, A & A 1st Choice LLC wants to be a customers’ first choice for remodeling and construction services. The company also intends to be their ongoing choice for future construction and maintenance projects.
“We pride ourselves on helping new businesses and existing owners build and maintain their property to keep up their operations and to help them grow,” says Aaron Reeves, Owner of A & A 1st Choice.
Based in Round Rock, Texas, the company specializes in tenant build-outs and improvements for businesses throughout the Central Texas area, including retail and medical build-outs and restaurant and bar construction. The firm works to develop relationships with property managers, architects, business owners, landlords and facilities directors to provide ongoing services even after larger projects are complete.
A Client-First Approach
“When we work for a client, we’re at their service,” Reeves says. “We address their needs and help guide them in keeping a project on budget. That’s our No. 1 goal, and that keeps people coming back. If our clients progress, so do we,” Reeves says.
That customer-centric approach is how the company has sustained continued growth since it was founded in 2002. While the firm initially started with residential remodeling work, it has transitioned to primarily perform construction services for the commercial marketplace. Reeves has found that if his team helps customers meet their goals on one project, the recommendations and repeat work will follow.
Reeves and his team bring years of experience in the construction industry. Reeves was only 15 when he landed his first construction job, framing houses in his hometown of Fort Walton Beach, Florida. He went straight into construction full time after graduating from high school, helping to build multifamily units for a general contractor.
Later, he worked in sales for a home improvement company before founding his own construction business.
During the Great Recession in the late 2000s, work in Florida dried up. Reeves’ company lost 80 percent of its business in a year’s time and his staff of 25 dwindled to two. So, he packed up his family and moved to Austin in 2010 in search of better opportunities. His brother-in-law, Dustin Cooper, who also started in construction at the early age of 13, followed him to Austin and now serves as superintendent for Reeve’s commercial remodeling company. The A & A in the company’s name stand for Aaron and Ashley, Aaron’s wife and Dustin’s sister, who manages office administration for the family-owned business. Bryan Hoss, Project Manager and Estimator, rounds out the management team.
A & A 1st Choice started out doing residential contract siding and gutter installation for Lowe’s, but when they won a bid from a facilities director looking for improvements and ongoing maintenance at two large building complexes, the company’s commercial business took off. Today, A & A 1st Choice has a team of 20 workers and subcontractors to respond quickly and complete projects on time and within budget.
Service Is Key
A & A 1st Choice prides itself on great customer service. “It’s what makes us stand out,” Cooper says. “If someone is opening a new office location or store, they can come to us to take care of all their construction needs. We walk them through the whole process and they appreciate our honest approach.”
The firm’s goal is to build long-term relationships with clients in order to assist them with ongoing work. “After we build their store or office, we go back for maintenance or to address any construction issue. When the job is over, we want them to still be our client,” Cooper says.
“We are a one-stop shop. We’ll do a complete build-out or something smaller, like painting or wall construction–whatever the client needs,” Reeves adds.
The firm has built stores, offices and medical facilities. Providing ongoing construction maintenance services for Aramcor, a large commercial real estate broker, A&A 1st Choice recently remodeled the lobby at Flix Brewhouse in Round Rock, adding a new bar and drink service area and painting the entire facility.
Other projects include the build-out of an Edible Arrangements® retail store and Escapology, a new popular “escape room” physical adventure game space. For this particular venue, A & A 1st Choice built a room designed to look like Fidel Castro’s office and guests work to solve a simulated Cuban Missile Crisis. Another room resembles the inside of a train boxcar. Reeves and his team installed TVs in place of car windows so passengers feel like they are riding a train as scenery goes by on the TVs.
The firm also completed a remodel of Plato’s Closet in Round Rock, a retailer that buys and sells trendy secondhand clothing for teens and young adults. “A & A 1st Choice was attentive, professional and rolled with the punches when changes were necessary,” says Manager Heather Bishop. “They are problem solvers, and when issues present themselves, they have ideas to fix things. We will definitely be working with them again, and I would recommend them to anyone needing a reliable and affordable contractor,” she writes in her five-star Yelp review.
That’s the exact response Reeves wants from his clients as he looks to the future. “We hope to increase our general contracting business, while continuing our track record of building long-term relationships with current clients for ongoing construction and maintenance projects.”
Austin is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country and its diverse economy makes it a fertile field for growth. “It’s a whole other world, with a lot of opportunity,” Reeves says.
“We’ve had good success in the Austin area and have ongoing relationships with a lot of different companies. We want to keep doing what we’re doing,” he adds.