Jackson Heights Mainstay Evolves as Times Change
By Anjana Dasam and Rachel Disler
Marc Shapiro, the manager of the Consumers Coverage Corporation, continues to run his generational family business and enjoys introducing modernized technology to the company.
JACKSON HEIGHTS — Walking down Roosevelt Avenue, a street filled with crowds of people from different parts of the world, many stores with awnings catch the eye. One stands out, because instead of an awning, the window is covered with signs — yellow ones with bold print, a neon one reading “Income Tax Returns” and smaller ones of different colors advertising a variety of different services. This is Consumers Coverage Corp, a family business sandwiched between a laundromat and a janitor supply store in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Marc Shapiro is a third generation American from Queens taking on the family business of his father’s general insurance company. He started more than 15 years ago, and he continues his father’s legacy at the company, expanding it to make it more relevant in today’s modern society.
His father Robert started the business in 1971. “I think he wanted to work for himself,” Mr. Shapiro said. It used to be called Roberta Shapiro Insurance, after Robert’s wife Roberta, but the business was changed after Mr. Shapiro took over.
He has made some other changes as well. He said that after he started running the business, he added a lot of new technology, like online transactions and mobile apps.“I enjoy how technology is changing the business,” he said. Specifically, he likes that it reaches customers that are further away and added that he thinks it has made operations easier.
Mr. Shapiro is enthusiastic about his job, but every business has many challenges. One downfall he finds in technology is that it “has made this business more competitive.” And many local insurance businesses are “catching up to us doing transactions over the phone,” he said.
He added that his father had different challenges while starting the business, particularly learning how it worked. But Mr. Shapiro knows how to take advantage of obstacles. “Having competition is not always a bad thing. It throws people into the area,” he said. With all the companies around the area, there’s a bigger population that will come across his business.
Despite the roadblocks, Mr. Shapiro enjoys working in his field because he gets to work with all types of businesses, just one of the many services he provides. “I like helping people start their businesses,” he said. He enjoys keeping in touch with his customers and is excited to hear how their companies have grown. “It’s nice to hear about a customer who started with one pizza place and now he has nine,” he said. He especially loves “hearing their stories, how they overcame their struggles.”
Mr. Shapiro has many reasons to come to work every day, and he enjoys working with his close-knit group of employees, who come from all over New York. “We’re not in cubicles so we talk fairly casually and fairly regularly,” he said. “I enjoy trying to make it a nice place to work.” This is another one of the changes he made when he started out as manager.
With this business being a family business, Mr. Shapiro had his job set in stone for him since childhood. But he’s not complaining. “I just really wanted to run my own business and that was a way to do that,” he said. “I wanted to have a good workplace.” Now, he gets to be his own boss.
Mr. Shapiro continues to live in Queens, and he expects to keep Consumer Coverage Corp in the family. “I hope we continue the business,” he said. “It’s generational.”
