What's The Latest On The Auburn Location?
I’m glad you asked! We made a special page just for this question that will be updated regularly to reflect the progress being made. But I will also take some time to go over what that latest news is, and what’s on the horizon for the new location. We are still numerous months away from being open, and we appreciate your patient excitement! You can get to that page by clicking here, or clicking Auburn in the main menu.
The equipment liquidation auction happens February 23rd to March 2nd online at James G. Murphy. When we took over the space, we took on the challenge of liquidating all the old tools and equipment from the previous business. If you have any interest in some of the stuff, check out the auction listing by clicking here!
We are in the process of hiring a contractor to do the improvement work to the space. It was originally built in the late 80s, and needs some updating. We plan to bring in 40+ new light fixtures, 20+ drops of additional power outlets, a whole new air piping system, and a lot more in the shop area. We will also be constructing a new office/reception area complete with storage for stocked parts.
Lastly, some signage has gone up! We’ve got our coming soon temporary banner on our big sign on Auburn Way. We’re in the process of getting the permanent one done, and adding some signage to the building. We’ve got more in store for the exterior that we’ll be ready to share later!
What About Improvements To The Kirkland Location?
Don’t you worry, we’d never forget about the Kirkland location! We’ve recently completed phase 1 of the upgrade to the back area that has the press, vise, and other equipment. It used to be semi organized chaos back there, but now it’s much cleaner and better setup for your use. This was a big request in the feedback survey we ran in October, so it was a priority for us to address. We added an additional 20 ton hydraulic press to ease waiting for the press when we have multiple people who need one. We’ve also organized our press tools into a 48″ wide toolbox that’s right there in the press room. Less time wasted digging around for tooling is the goal.
On top of that, we’ve added another vise to the area, as well as a better drill press, new grinder wheels, and a belt sander. We also purchased a portable band saw that will come in handy for cutting all sorts of things. Our goal was to make the area match our bays for the quality of tools, equipment, and organization. We think you’ll enjoy using this space when you come in and need to use it!
Loyalty Program Coming Soon™
I don’t have many details to share, but once again this was a popular request in the feedback survey. I’ve evaluated multiple of the top loyalty management systems, and we are in the process of selecting one and setting up a program. In keeping with the theme of this blog post, it’s coming soon! What I can tell you is that it will be a points system, and there will be multiple ways to earn points. There will be the typical ways of points earned per spend, as well as referral points rewards. The plan is for the points to essentially be a cash credit system, where the points you earn can be redeemed as credit on your invoice when you’d like to use it. We look forward to what we can offer with this loyalty system, as I think it will address a few of the requests from the feedback survey. As for a timeline, I don’t have an exact date, but I can say it is going to be no later than June. We are actively working on this, and will launch it after some testing to make sure it works well for both us and you.
Are You Offering Classes Yet?
We are preparing to start classes again soon. We’ve done some private classes for local clubs recently, and they’ve been well received by their members. This has allowed us to fine tune how we would like to teach classes, and how many people we can work with at one time. We are working on creating a monthly class schedule that will teach a lot of the basics of auto repair. There are no dates yet, but we expect this to be announced in the next 2 months. There will be limited number of spots available as when the group gets too big, it makes it difficult to teach in an impactful way. Be sure to keep an eye out for this announcement, as when the class fills up, we won’t be able to add spots.