NOLN’s Shop Look(back) for 2025

In 2025, NOLN found operators across the country who were eager to breathe new life into old facilities. Today, we look back at how a handful of quick lube businesses were restored with new exteriors, updated bays, and even new locations.

Here are NOLN’s Shop Look features published in 2025:

Shop Look: Auto Ace Express Lube in Superior, Wisconsin

In 2023, an automotive service center in Superior, Wisconsin, once known as Pete’s Tower Service & Quick Lube, became the second location for Auto Ace Express, a Duluth, Minnesota-based business owned by Alan and Gina Amatuzio. Auto Ace revamped the facility’s look from its dated white brick exterior with a red stripe. It now features a red metal siding and black accent colors to match the brand’s image. Though it is a quick lube brand, customers often exit their vehicles as Auto Ace offers vacuuming services. It’s something Pete Popoe says puts them on another level from other oil change shops around.

Shop Look: Insta-Lube of Omaha, Nebraska

Once an aging facility, the rejuvenated Insta-Lube shop in Omaha, Nebraska, is operated by Dale Eesley, a professor of entrepreneurship who was looking to embark on a new business venture in 2019. Though the business had loyal customers, it required several improvements to the property. Eesley had the entire exterior repainted, and hired an interior designer to help him choose the colors. Now, the building sits with a white exterior and red metal roof. One of the biggest improvements was a $20,000 digital sign the shop has installed outside.

PittStop 10 Minute Oil Change in Akron, Ohio

Steven Pittman Jr.’s introduction into the quick lube industry came from spending seven years as an outside sales and new business development rep for Mighty Auto Parts. Fast oil change shops were his customers, and he quickly learned which ones in Northeast Ohio were thriving and which could use some help. Today, he sits on the other side of the desk, a quick lube operator himself. Pittman oversees four PittStop 10 Minute Oil Change shops in Northeast Ohio.

Castrol Pro Lube Express in Liberty, Missouri

With an ambition to grow his shop and improve it from the ground up, Matthew Warman has been leading the way at Castrol Pro Lube Express, formerly known as Walton’s 9-Minute Oil Change, for most of his tenure. It just wasn’t until this summer that his sense of ownership became a formal business arrangement. Under his leadership, the shop went from servicing an average of 15 vehicles per day to 30. Within the past two years, that total has climbed to 40 vehicles per day.

Our Planet Automotive in Forest Park, Illinois

Since 2015, Peg and Tyler Dowling, a mother-and-son duo, have teamed up to run an efficient and eco-friendly automotive service facility. Carving out a niche as an eco-friendly auto shop was a goal for the Dowlings well before they officially opened. The single-shop business is now in its third location, operating with two lifts and room for a third vehicle.