Anyone who watches home improvement shows knows that there are always good reasons not to tear down a structure and start over. For John Joback, owner of 10 Minit Oil Change in Fort Myers, Florida, tearing down the nearly 60-year-old building wasn’t an option — however, at one point he almost walked away from it. For six years, Joback had clocked in at the building, which was originally built in 1960 as a gas station before being converted to a quick lube shop, and he came to appreciate not just the building but the location and existing clientele. In

Constantine Christo Kapothanasis – Costa to friends and family – will tell you that he has no formal public relations or marketing training and no formal sales experience, but he said that he understands how the customer thinks.

With the start of a new year, it is now a good time for shop owners and managers to review workplace policies and make sure all their employees are aware of these changes. Creating a safe and productive workplace is the goal; so having prepared policies in place is crucial. While vacation and sick time, dress code and job duties are likely already clearly spelled out, there are now a few areas that could use some attention. NOLN spoke with experts to highlight policies every shop should consider addressing in 2019 and beyond. Anti-Bullying Policies No one wants to

A common scene on the nightly news late in 2018 was roads jammed with cars as residents first in Florida and then in North and South Carolina sought to evacuate before the arrival of a hurricane. Those who opted to ride out the storms regretted it, notably Hurricane Michael, which was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the United States. The storm, which hit the Florida panhandle on October 10, took the life of 60 individuals and caused more than $14.58 billion in damage across Central America, Mexico and the United States. Mere weeks later, Hurricane

How Lyons Express Oil & Lube Was Saved From Destruction Given that at least 77 people were killed at press time and more than 215 square miles of land was burned in November’s Northern California wildfire known as the Camp Fire, it would be easy to believe it resulted in Paradise Lost. From the pre-fire scenic beauty to utter destruction, few other words could do justice to what the fire left behind. The fire completely devastated the once majestic town of Paradise, California, destroying at least 7,177 structures including 6,453 homes. The Camp Fire, which destroyed Paradise, is now

Dave and Joye Griffin In this industry, it isn’t uncommon for children to follow in their parents’ footsteps, and it also isn’t uncommon for those children to believe their parents have run the family business better than just about anyone else. Joye, with DJ in her arms, and Dave, with Jeff in his arms, at the original Griffin's Golden Glow Center in Ogden, Utah, circa 1983. In the case of Jeff Griffin, CEO of Griffin’s Golden Glow and Lincoln Distributing, his testament to his parents really highlights just what special people Dave and Joye Griffin are and why they

How to Educate Drivers on Why “Warming Up the Car” Isn’t Necessary and May Be Illegal Last winter’s “Arctic Blast” was one for the record books — with cities such as Chicago experiencing weeks of sub-freezing temperatures and even parts of Florida experiencing unusually cold weather. It is the kind of weather where few want to leave a warm house and head out in a cold car. Anyone who grew up in the 1980s or earlier where cold weather was a normal part of winter probably remembers a time when dad would go out to “warm up the car.”

You don’t need to be a fan of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” to know that “winter is coming,” but the changing seasons can still catch many people off guard. Customers often forget there are services that should be done as the colder weather approaches, but shops often put off the preparation until an early freeze or, worse, late-fall snowstorm requires sudden reaction. Instead of reacting to a wintery onslaught, a better course of action is to be proactive and use the mild weather of fall to prepare for the coming storms and cold. This doesn’t have to be an

In June, California enacted what has been seen as one of the most far-reaching consumer protection privacy laws in the nation. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which goes into effect on January 1, 2020, was signed into law on June 28 by Governor Brown as a response to a growing concern that consumers need stronger means to protect their personal information — in part due to recent data breaches as well as other privacy incidents that have affected millions. The CCPA will impose a range of new requirements on businesses with the end goal being to ensure consumers

At this year’s 2018 SEMA Show, Jeff Allen, automotive celebrity and owner of Flat 12 Gallery, will truly take the concept of “something special” to a new level. That might sound like a tall order at a trade show that has “specialty” in the name (as in Specialty Equipment Market Association), but Allen clearly was up to the challenge. Allen, who is a true “car guy” from a long line of car guys, announced plans to unveil what can only be described as a “shock-and-awe” vehicle — a build that includes a 1963 Volvo 122S Amazon, which offers 85

This past August, during the “dog days” of summer, Ken Lehman, CEO of Virginia Lube and operator of the Jiffy Lube locations in the region, opted to do something a little different to draw in customers. Not once, but twice, he worked with the Virginia Blood Services to hold a blood drive and MDA fundraiser at two of his shops. The first of these was held on August 7 at locations in Lynchburg and Forest, Virginia, while a second one was held a week later on August 14 at locations in Roanoke, Virginia. This coincided with Jiffy Lube’s MDA

This year’s top film has no shortage of capes and heroes with super powers. “Avengers: Infinity Wars” has grossed well over $2 billion at the international box office, while “Black Panther,” another film in the same Marvel universe, became one of the highest grossing films with an all African-American cast, earning nearly $1.4 billion worldwide. In bombastic fashion, the world was saved, and good prevailed. Yet despite how those spandex and leather clad characters fare on screen, real heroes don’t have super strength, x-ray vision or even fancy costumes. A team of four from Grease Monkey’s location in Columbus,

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), breast cancer remains the most common cancer in women, no matter the race or ethnicity. Today, it sadly remains the most common cause of death from cancer among Hispanic women, and the second most common cause of death from cancer among white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native women. Worse still, about one in eight U.S women — more than 12 percent — will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime, and in 2018 an estimated 266,120 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be

As the National Breast Cancer Foundation has noted, breast cancer can’t be prevented, and sadly today, there is no cure. However, detecting breast cancer early can make all the difference in the world — it can literally save lives. Yet, a rapidly increasing percentage of women simply cannot afford the screening tests. For these reasons Solid Start/True Brand, a female-owned and operated business, has chosen to partner with the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) to help provide free, life-saving, early detection screenings to women in need all across the country. The NBCF partners with medical facilities across the country

Quick Lube Shops Hit by Harvey…One Year Later One year after Hurricane Harvey made landfall, many parts of Houston are still recovering. The storm, which formed in mid-August 2017 and made landfall in Texas on August 29, is now tied with 2005’s Hurricane Katrina as the costliest tropical cyclone on record. The Category 4 storm inflicted $125 billion in damage, much of it from the catastrophic rainfall-triggered flooding. It was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005, and in a four-day period, many areas received more than 40 inches of rain,

Missouri Jiffy Lube Uses Humorous Messages to Draw in Customers Who actually pays much attention to the messages on the marquee outside most businesses these days? Typically, these are used to announce a special, a sale or some other service. Much like the billboards on the highway, these are in the background, but one lube shop manager thought maybe it was time to send a different message — one that was sure to catch the eyes of drivers. Instead of the usual, “brake flush” or other service as the message, last summer Cody Baumert, location manager of Jiffy Lube

Bogi Lateiner, of 180 Degrees Automotive, Sheds Light on How Shops Can Make Women Feel Comfortable As a technician, shop owner and a coach to other shop owners, Sarah “Bogi” Lateiner told NOLN that the best advice for keeping female customers — and growing the business in the process — is to forge long-lasting relationships. “Many women go to the same hair salon or dry cleaner for years,” said Lateiner, founder and owner of Phoenix-based 180 Degrees Automotive. “Once you find someone you like, there is no reason to go elsewhere. And when women find someone they can trust,

Ask a lot of shop owners what they’re doing to appeal to female customers, and a quick answer is they ensure the bathrooms are clean and neat. That’s important, of course, but today there is a lot more a shop can and more importantly should do to draw in female customers. “Don’t make the shop look like a shop,” said LeeAnn Shattuck, host of The Car Chick. “A clean, comfortable seating area or lounge with coffee, Wi-Fi and some toys for the little ones goes a long way to attracting and retaining female customers.” The days of the pinups

If you asked Jonita White just a decade ago where she’d be today, the answer wouldn’t likely be as a franchise owner of a Christian Brothers Automotive service center. She had a good life with her husband Adam in San Diego, but then made the decision to move to Frisco, Texas, to be closer to her parents. While Adam took a job with Sprint, Jonita took a job at Bank of America — and along with their two children, weekends were spent working on her parents’ farm. Life was good, but something was missing — and that was being

Today, Brian Moak owns and operates three HEART Certified Auto Care locations, but hopes to eventually see 100 locations around the country. For Moak, this has been his path since he was young. He grew up in the Chicago suburbs and spent his childhood watching his father operate Duxler Complete Auto Care, a local auto service shop. The elder Moak didn’t want his son to follow him in the business, but for the younger Moak, there was no turning back. In 2009, when Brian was 27, he bought the original Duxler shop, which had been in operation since 1924.

Expecting parents face a lot of challenges as they prepare for the arrival of a new baby, but car seats — especially those for infants — can sometimes be an afterthought. New parents may know car seats are required by law but give the actual installation little attention. However, that can actually put the child at risk if the car seat isn’t installed properly. In February, Grease Monkey of Idaho offered its first car seat safety check — and became the first oil and lube company in the state to offer this valuable service. It happened because last September

The idea that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas might apply to some activities, but the truth is that this town remains a premier destination for some of the world’s largest trade shows and conventions. In 2017 Las Vegas welcomed a record-breaking 6.6 million convention attendees for nearly 22,000 events in 2017, while total visitation for the year reached 42.2 million. “Las Vegas is not only the entertainment capital of the world, but also the world’s leading destination for meetings and conventions, which is a win-win for the business traveler,” said Chris Meyer, Las Vegas Convention and Visitor