Shop View: Kelly Automotive
1. Staying in the Shade
Kelly Automotive’s Gilbert location opened in 2013 as owner Kelly Mullenaux’s second store. He built the location from the ground up, and wanted a spacious design to go with his classic red shop colors. Beyond this, the design included several large canopies on the outside, which adds to the shop’s look but also provides shade for the especially hot and sunny Arizona days. When technicians work on cars outside, they can do so under the shade canopies, and customers also have shaded pickup and dropoff points.
2. Protecting Customers’ Cars
The shop has a secure parking lot in the rear of the building, which can be locked when the shop is closed. Mullenaux had to fight for this with the local municipalities when building the shop, but he wanted overflow vehicles to be safe and secure when he wasn’t around.
3. Cold Drinks on Hot Days
Beyond having a coffee station with caffeine, ice water and Gatorade, Mullenaux wanted to provide some additional drinks for customers, and added a full fountain drink machine with various Coca-Cola products. Every day, the staff wipes the machine down to ensure it’s clean, and periodically changes out its filters and cleans out the ice maker. Adjacent to the fountain machine is a painting of a fall day. There isn’t a long fall in Arizona, Mullenaux says, and his wife really enjoys looking fall colors that she doesn’t often see in Arizona.
4. A Sharp Aesthetic
Service advisors in the lobby work on stations with granite countertops, and a stand surrounded by the same porcelain tile used for the lobby floor. Mullenaux’s brother owns a cabinet company, and helped him choose the cabinets behind the service advisors.
5. Keeping the Shop Clean
Between the front and rear bays of the shop, there’s an area that holds scan tools, welders and important shop equipment, to keep the shop floor clear and clean. Inventories, like oil filters and wax, are all kept in the middle of the shop. Parts are inventoried upstairs in the mezzanine above the main office section.
SHOP STATS: Kelly Automotive Location: Gilbert, Ariz. Operator: Kelly Mullenaux Average Monthly Car Count: 412 Staff Size: 12 Shop Size: 12,000 sq ft Annual Revenue: $2 million
