Andy Cohen is an integral part of the Cohen family businesses, and he is one of the only reasons why Junkyard Empire made it to air.
Cohen Recycling, and much of the Cohen family-drama, forms the backdrop of the popular Junkyard Empire.
Andy Cohen inherited the Cohen Recycling business from Bobby Cohen, but he has certainly managed to move out of his father’s shadow, and into the limelight.
What is Junkyard Empire about?
The scrap and junkyard business may not seem particularly lucrative to outsiders. But the Cohen family has successfully run Cohen Recycling, which is located just outside of Washington, D.C for many years.
Junkyard Empire not only examines what has made the Cohen family businesses so successful in the past, but also the lengths that Bobby, Andy and the rest of their team have to go to in order to keep up with the changing times.
Junkyard Empire Andy Cohen
If you have ever tuned in to watch an episode of Junkyard Empire, you will already know that the show is one part serious junk business, and one part family-drama.
The not-always-so-friendly interactions between father, Bobby Cohen, and son, Andy Cohen, (who has no relation to the popular Bravo talk show host, of course) is one of the most entertaining aspects of the show.
While Bobby tends to have a more laid-back attitude about life and business, Andy is always trying to find the next big thing and is often told that he devotes too much of his time to work.
Regardless of which Cohen you usually side with in these episodes, there is no denying that neither Cohen Recycling (plus the other businesses that the Cohen family own) nor Junkyard Empire would be where they are today if it was not for Andy’s perseverance.
In fact, Andy’s impeccable fireside storytelling capabilities are actually what convinced Sean Gallagher, who is the co-founder of Half Yard Productions (and who has now become one of the executive producers of the show), to take the Cohen family business to the small screen.
Andy is also the one who realized that selling the spare parts and restoring some of the classic cars that made their way to Cohen Recycling could be a great way to supplement their income and expand the business beyond the twisting and crushing of metal.
So, even though Andy inherited some of the family business from his father, his keen business sense and keen eye for a good deal or lucrative opportunity have certainly helped to propel these business ventures to new heights.
Andy had not always planned to follow in his father’s footsteps
Although Bobby had already been involved in the automotive industry since about 1968, Andy actually had no intention of making it a family business.
In fact, Andy was still attending law school when he got the opportunity to buy his first junkyard.
Andy admitted in a 2018 interview that he mainly decided to purchase Southlawn Auto Recyclers with his father because he had always had a love for cars, but he knew that he could still be a lawyer if things did not work out as planned.
Fortunately, things seem to have gone exactly as planned, and Andy is still in the automotive industry over 30 years later.
Andy has now taken the lead of the Cohen family businesses
One of the main causes of tension between Andy and Bobby (as shown on Junkyard Empire, at least) is the fact that Bobby has been semi-retired for years, yet he continues to insert himself into the daily operations of the Cohen family businesses.
Bobby officially handed over the reins to Andy a few years ago. While this old man is still alive and well, Andy finally has the freedom to implement all of his own business ideas moving forward.
Andy is a busy guy on and off the show
One of the things that makes Junkyard Empire so entertaining to watch is the fact the show gives viewers an inside look into the daily operations of real-life businesses.
Now that Bobby has officially retired, Andy is the CEO, not only of his beloved Damascus Motor Co Inc, but also of the family businesses – Cohen Recycling and Southlawn Auto Recyclers.
Hence, he is in charge of managing these businesses, even when the cameras stop rolling.
In fact, the Andy’s Auto Parts Facebook page recently shared a video which showed just how quickly Andy got back to work following his recovery from a serious injury that he sustained earlier this year.
And when the cameras are rolling, Andy is not the host of the show, but he is also involved behind-the-scenes as one of the show’s producers.
