Shop View: Green Toad Tire and Auto
1. Find a Name
Two years ago, Jeremy Smith remodeled an old rundown 1940’s dealership in Conway, Ark., to open shop as Green Toad Tire and Auto.
“We had a lot of plans to make it stand out. I didn’t want it to be your typical shop,” Smith says. “I wanted it to be a place that people talked about.”
Years later, people do talk about the unique touches of Green Toad.
“Somebody once said it looked like Pinterest threw up in the lobby,” says Smith, with a laugh.
Smith also wanted the shop’s name to stand out, with ”Green” signifying the shop’s eco-friendliness and “Toad” being a reference to a local spot in town.
The shop stays green by recycling everything possible, as well as repurposing vintage items throughout its lobby as decor and furniture.
2. Get Creative
When you walk into the front door of Green Toad Tire and Auto, the first thing you will see is the shop’s service advisor sitting at a 1964 Fairlane.
“I wanted to take that historical connection—being an old dealership and now auto repair shop—so I thought, ‘How cool would it be if I could get a car from that era inside the lobby, but make it utilitarian?’”
After searching, Smith landed on the vintage car and brought it to the shop, cut it up, welded it together and turned it into a front desk.
The backend of the car was made into a sofa, and can also be found in the shop’s lobby.
3. Make It Loud
After careful research, Smith added audio and video to Green Toad. To showcase the additional services, a “green toad” demo car sits out front, that Smith says is, “crazy loud.”
Inside the shop sits a 1975 Chevrolet truck bed, up right, with flashing tail lights of different colors. The front of the truck bed is covered in cedar plank boards to simulate the wood bed and has all its audio features displayed: a radio, subwoofers and amplifiers. Sitting atop the bed is a 42-inch TV used for shop and recreational services.
4. Work It Out
To create a comfortable and useful space in the shop’s lobby, Smith built a work bar with USB and power plugins, so customers can charge their laptops or phones. Customers can sit at the bar and work by the window while waiting for their cars to be finished.
Above the bar is some homemade chandelier lighting, with shades made out of old license plates. And near the workstation, is a coffee bar made of a repurposed 1970s tool cart that Smith’s dad used back in the day. For an extra space for creamer and sugar, Smith placed a 1970s Dodge Challenger Scat Pack tool box atop the old tool cart.
“It’s really using what you got available and making it work for you,” he says.
5. Welcome, Everyone
One wall of the shop features artwork of a big tree and little owls, which can only mean one thing: a kids’ corner. The area also includes a kid-sized sofa, a miniature version of the adult work bar—including tablets, and a bookshelf filled with both toad and car books—to match the shop.
To continue the welcoming theme, Smith also made his shop accessible to everyone.
“My youngest son is in a wheelchair so I’m very aware of disability needs,” he says.
When Smith added the bathroom during the original remodel, he designed it to be large enough and accessible to wheelchair users. He also included a baby changing station for parents, and a place for women to hang their purses.
“I wanted people to walk into the lobby and kind of have their guard removed, so they don't feel like they are necessarily in a shop,” Smith says.
