Every year, a deserving independent automotive repair shop is named Federated’s Shop of the Year. The annual program recognizes a top shop whose owners have a demonstrated track record of excellence in such areas as customer service, quality repairs, knowledgeable staff and community involvement.

For this year’s winners, add “tenacity” and “determination” to that list.

When Freddie and Jeanna Kish opened Complete Car Care ­Center, Inc., in December 1998, they did so with a desire to provide honest, top-notch repairs to residents of the Waco, TX, area. Jeanna herself had been a victim of an ­unethical repair shop when she was a single mother of two. When she asked the shop to make it right, her ­request was met with contempt.

“They just laughed at me and sent me on my way,” she remembers, adding that she then turned to a technician named Freddie for help. “He fixed the problem on my car that the other shop said was done ­correctly. He continued to fix my car without making me feel like a ‘dumb girl.’ ”

Jeanna, who was a recent graduate of Baylor University with a degree in marketing, was inspired to help ­Freddie open a shop and pass along his commitment to ethics and workmanship for other customers who had been taken advantage of by unethical shops.

“It never crossed my mind that I would be involved in the daily operation of the shop!” Jeanna says.

Freddie, on the other hand, had grown up in the automotive business, with his family owning Ace Garage in Gainesville, TX. It took three years for Freddie and Jeanna to hammer out the details of opening their own shop.

“It was a journey of closed doors, being told no, finding the perfect property but with the wrong zoning, to going into a business without any ­investment, and finally convincing the right man to build a building and give us a chance to make a difference in the ­automotive repair business,” Jeanna says. “We had a five-year plan in our little 6,000-sq.-ft., 10-bay building with the two of us and one employee. Times were tough back then! We worked about 130 hours a week ­between the two of us.”

Humble Beginnings

Freddie worked on cars while Jeanna took on front office duties — all of them. From keeping the books and answering the phone, to bidding jobs and picking up parts, Jeanna says she learned to do it all.

“I wore so many hats that I found myself coming and going 90 mph just to keep up,” she says. “But we were determined, and we had a five-year goal to make it or break it. There were months we never got paid, which made life very hard, especially when we had to buy food and clothes for the kids. Our cars were old, but ­reliable — after all we had the best ­mechanic in town.”

As word spread, business quickly increased at the shop, and Freddie and Jeanna hired three additional techs since cars were “stacked up three deep in the bays.”

“The tech would evaluate the situation, run the diagnostic or confirm the repair, and either Freddie or I would bid the job, get a price on parts, call the customer and wait for the ­approval,” Jeanna ­explains. “Meanwhile, the tech would put the car back in driving order and get ­another one in to see what it needed.”

With more cars awaiting repairs than they knew what to do with, ­Jeanna and Freddie were able to put in additional parking on the five acres next to their building. That quickly filled up as well.

“It was crazy how people ­responded to our shop, and how they appreciated the honesty and openness of the true reason for their repair,” Jeanna says. “They spread the word, and we almost doubled our sales from year one to year two as a ­result.”

Roadblocks

While business was booming, Freddie suffered a medical emergency that kept him in the hospital for 10 weeks, four of them in the ICU. During that time, the shop was nominated by the Better Business Bureau for the Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics. Even though Freddie was still in the hospital when they won the award, Jeanna made sure he was there, if only by phone.

“I called Freddie on my cell phone on the way up to the podium to ­accept the award along with my children,” she says. “After explaining why I had my phone in my ear, there ­wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

“I wanted so badly for him to be there to accept the award,” she continues, adding that Freddie has always lived up to the principles his father ­instilled in him when growing up at the family’s repair shop: Treat people the way you want to be treated, and they will respect you and become great customers.

After two and a half years, Freddie and Jeanna decided to stop renting and buy a bigger building to house their growing venture. They purchased a former Tractor Supply Company building, completely gutted it and transformed it into their shop of their dreams.

The main shop floor area measured 10,000 sq. ft., leaving 2,500 sq. ft. for offices, a waiting area, restrooms and service writer counter space. An ­additional space of about 5,500 sq. ft. was earmarked for parts and tire storage, along with other equipment.

Another challenge hit the shop in May 2006, this time in the form of a natural disaster. An F4 tornado touched down in the Waco area on a Friday evening, wiping out the entire front office and taking off the roof. All told, it resulted in about $1 million in ­damage.

“Pieces of our shop were found as far as five miles away!” ­Jeanna ­says. “Doors were blown off their hinges and things strewn across the room, while a delicate photo that hung on the wall with mere thumb tacks was left ­unharmed.”

While some shop owners might have been defeated by such an event, Freddie’s response showed his true character and commitment to his business and customers.

“Freddie was on ­national TV telling the world that he would be open on Monday morning,” Jeanna remembers. “No kidding, we had about 10 disaster crews come in to clean up all the ­debris, and we pulled out paper ­invoices, ran on three gasoline generators and put our service writers under a tent canopy in the parking lot.

“We eventually had trailers brought in so we could have computers again, and then a second trailer for our customers to have a waiting area,” Jeanna continues. “It took seven months for the remodel to be completed and to get our building all back together. Never once did any employee go without a paycheck or have to be laid off.”

Silver Lining

The remodel following the tornado ­actually allowed Freddie and Jeanna to make some changes to the shop that helped with workflow. Despite having ample square footage, the ­layout of the front office and counter areas had quickly become cramped.

“I call the tornado ‘God’s remodeling plan,’” Jeanna says. “When we first built the front office, we had no idea that we could possibly grow any larger, but soon found we were out of space.”

In addition to updating those areas for better workflow, they also added a double-lane drive-thru canopy that can fit at least six to eight cars, while the old one only allowed for three to four. All in all, the shop now makes a good first impression for customers and is designed for optimal productivity and profitability.

“Everything got a new look, and we have been praised for raising the bar in the auto industry,” Jeanna says of the rebuilt shop.”

Looking To The Future

Despite some setbacks along the way, Freddie and Jeanna Kish have built a thriving business over the past 16 years, and they’re looking forward to the next 16.

“To say the least, we have been blessed with our business and have made a statement in Central Texas,” Jeanna says. “Folks all across the U.S. have recognized us as the leaders of the pack — hitting sales records for tire sales across the country when we are not a tire store. And hitting sales records across the country with other parts suppliers when we have only one location.

“It’s been a great experience these last 16 years, and we have made a great living helping others with their car repairs and services,” Jeanna ­concludes. “I can’t wait to see what the next 16 brings us.”