ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — Romeo Edward Breau III has lived all over the United States, but he considers Baldwin County his home.

“It’s good to be back home,” said Breau at the grand opening of his new business, Romeo 3’s Collision Center in Robertsdale, with the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 23. “I appreciate everything the city and the Chamber has done to make this possible.”

A native of South Carolina, Breau says he dropped out of school in the 10th grade, returning later to get his GED, but the majority of his education came from his parents’ body shop, People’s Paint and Body in Anderson, South Carolina.

His mother died when he was 5 years old, Breau said, he and his father moved to Massachusetts, landing in the Bay Minette area of Baldwin County a year later.

“I lived here from about age 6 to about age 10,” he said. And while he has lived several places since, he has always wanted to come back and start a business.

And it doesn’t hurt to have other ties to the area.

“My wife (Billie) is from here, and she has several relatives who live in the area, so it’s good to be back closer to them,” he said.

Breau said he learned everything he could about the paint and body business from his father and others before opening up his own shop in Greenville, Alabama, in 2006. When his first shop burned to the ground, he said, he took a 250-square-foot trailer, renovated it and opened back up.

He ended up purchasing six acres of property and a shop on Highway 59 in Robertsdale last year and, after months of renovations, opened the new Romeo 3s last month.

“Our shop in Greenville is relatively small and we work primarily on collision work there, but here we have room to do just about everything,” he said.

That includes custom work, which he does all himself, everything from cars and trucks to boats and other vehicles, including a custom painted military vehicle which is parked front and center on Highway 59.

“We will probably eventually hire at least one other person to do custom work,” he said. “We want to keep growing and expanding in order to be able to serve our customers.”

Romeo’s now employs five people at the new shop in Robertsdale, including Breau, his wife, and her brother, assistant manager Robert Sawyer. Jason Reaves manages the shop in Greenville, which also has five employees.

Breau said he hopes to add as many as 15 employees over the coming months. He is also looking for other businesses to renovate in the area.

“We can take anything and make it pretty,” said Breau. “It’s all about taking a negative and turning it into a positive.”

Learn more at romeo3scollisionllc.com or visit Romeo 3’s page on Facebook. You can also call Romeo 3’s at 251-945-ROME (7663).