J U M P S TA R T
Kearney Tire & Auto Service BY MEGAN GOSCH PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY KEARNEY TIRE & AUTO SERVICE
SHOP S TAT S Owner: Don and Ronda Jaeschke Location: Kearney, Neb. Staff Size: 11 (5 full-time technicians, 2 parttime technicians, 3 service advisors, 1 sales manager) Shop Size: 12,000 square feet Number of Lifts/ Bays: 12 Average Monthly Car Count: 400 Annual Revenue: $2.2 million
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1 / From the Ground Up At Kearney Tire & Auto Service, a lobby renovation was overdue. Don and Ronda Jaeschke have made regular updates since buying the shop in 2013, but the building, which was originally built in the 1950s, had operated as a repair shop since 1995 and its age was starting to show—especially the tile floor. Tiles had begun to come loose. Pieces flaked away, and the flooring was so old that the Jaeschkes had trouble finding matching replacements. “We got to a point where the small fixes weren’t cutting it and we figured if we need to upend the lobby, why stop there?” says Ronda. “Like most renovations it started with one project and grew from there.”
2 / Designed With the Customer In Mind “When you come to work every day, you’re not seeing things the way your customers do, so we really thought through the customer experience to prioritize the changes we knew they’d appreciate,” says Ronda. While installing new slip resistant flooring, the Jaeschkes also removed the shop’s original service counters and replaced them with rolling stations, updated the restrooms, and converted one of the shop’s two seating areas into a designated family-friendly waiting area. A wall was also closed off behind the service stations to eliminate any distracting noise coming from the shop’s workfloor, while partial walls were built to section off the remaining customer seating and prevent drafts from the shop’s front door traffic.
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