Comerix solved persistent 503 gateway errors on Headlights Depot’s custom CMS, then rebuilt/migrated to Magento (Uzooka → Headlights Depot → Headlights.com), providing 10+ years of trusted dev support through acquisitions.
+ 5X revenue growth
+ 3K → 1M+ sq ft (40 locations)
+ Decade of flawless uptime
Headlights.com (formerly Headlights Depot) is an automotive lighting specialist founded in 2002, now spanning 40 US locations and 1M+ sq ft after mergers/acquisitions by Original One Parts (2023) and KSI Collision Parts (2025).
“We started the company in two thousand and two… now we have over a million square feet all across the country. So forty locations is the new Headlights.com.”
Headlights Depot’s hand-built custom CMS (by in-house “magician”) suffered chronic 503 NGINX gateway timeouts from bad AWS/extensions; prior agency couldn’t fix despite building it — security/patches overwhelmed solo dev.
“We had another agency… riddled with this error, five oh three gateway timeout… they just couldn’t solve it… no platform… security and patches… one guy running the website.”
Jay discovered Comerix through AWS consulting services; the team solved the elusive 503 error through methodical extension testing (identifying a faulty rewards module) — instantly building trust despite the initial Uzooka project’s failure.
This technical ownership and problem-solving ability differentiated Comerix from finger-pointing agencies, leading to a decade-long exclusive partnership.
“We reached out to you… You solved it… Through that process, we built a ton of trust… over a decade later, now, we use Paul and his team for all of our development needs.”
Comerix rebuilt the platform twice — first Uzooka (Magento 1 learning experience), then successfully migrating Headlights Depot from custom CMS to Magento with certified integrations, including parts finder functionality.
Paul’s strategic guidance prevented premature, risky rebranding (building Headlights.com domain authority first), while consistent focus on speed and stability protected core performance.
The same core team (Alex/Max) maintained a no-blame ownership culture, jumping on issues regardless of time/holidays.
“We rebuilt the website from the ground up, I think twice… migrating from custom dev work into… Magento… fast site that functions well… “
Over 10+ years, Headlights achieved 5X revenue growth and 5X traffic while expanding from 3K to 1M+ sq ft across 40 locations. Two successful acquisitions validated the technical foundation; the fast, reliable platform scaled seamlessly through explosive growth without unresolved outages or security breaches.
“Over the last ten years… our revenue is five X… three thousand square feet… now… over a million square feet… lot of growth.”
