The Gamble Family Legacy: Transforming Automotive Repair for Over a Century

When the Gamble family first got into the automotive repair business, the average price of a new car fell in the $300 to $600 range.

That was more than 100 years ago—at a one-man, one-bay shop in New Jersey run by Ken Gamble, Sr., the great-grandfather of Jacob Gamble, CEO of North Hills Automotive, Inc., in Greenville, South Carolina.

The story skipped a generation to Jacob’s father, Ken Gamble, III, who founded North Hills in 1986. Ken, now 71, has largely retired from daily operations but remains a trusted advisor to Jacob, 46, and his brother Rob, 30, senior manager of one of the company’s two shops.

While Jacob Gamble has downsized the business from a high of seven locations, he also has led a dramatic overhaul of its operations that ultimately has increased its profitability and number of vehicles serviced.

“It’s been a wild ride,” he says. “I’ve seen us grow, shrink, and almost go bankrupt, and then I’ve seen a total transformation over the past 10 years. It’s a challenging industry that changes all the time, but I feel like we’re positioned well for the next decade and beyond.”

North Hills has a total of 35 employees at its two shops, one with 18 bays and the second with 10. The business had $7.7 million in revenue in 2025, servicing 11,300 cars with an average repair order of $680. Twenty to 35 cars might be in each shop on any given day.  

The business’ 13 ASE-certified technicians are paid on a flat-rate structure, which Gamble feels is the best way to reward punctuality, productivity, and hard work. Shop efficiency rates range from 1.3% to 1.8%.  

Markets and Services 

Since 2013, North Hills has offered its customers a lifetime parts and labor warranty on repairs, following a motto of “Done Right, On Time, First Time, Guaranteed.”

The business also sells a $130 annual inspection package, purchased by 18% to 20% of customers, which includes a 120-point inspection, credits toward four oil changes, and a list of recommended fixes and scheduled service over 12 consecutive months. The tech who writes up the report is paid for that time and also gets recorded jobs whenever they are booked.

“Customers can choose to address any issues found right away, or they can spread them out over their oil change appointments,” Gamble notes. “Either way, they know exactly where they stand and how to plan and budget.”

North Hills’ newest venture is Pro-Fleet Solutions, a maintenance and repair division targeting companies with smaller fleets of two to 20 vehicles. The initiative is led by a dedicated manager with more than 20 years of industry experience.  

North Hill’s bread-and-butter market, however, remains passenger cars and light trucks, including domestic, European, and Asian models and hybrids and electric vehicles.

Investing in Employees

What has changed most over the past 15 years are the company’s hiring practices and management structure. When hiring, managers have stopped prioritizing techs with incredible resumes and credentials on paper. Instead, they look for those with “good hearts,” or high moral standards, a commitment to family and community, and long-term career and personal goals.

“We’ve realized that we can train the technical side of the business, but we can’t train character,” Gamble says. “What we need are team players with strong work ethics who don’t create drama. Our human resources headaches have dropped to almost zero.”

And sometimes skillsets combine to create the perfect employee—but not always. If necessary, veteran techs are compensated for mentoring new hires for 18 months or longer, providing both skills instruction and tips for succeeding on a flat-rate salary.  

To help keep turnover low, North Hills leaders also closely monitor financial numbers and daily hours billed by each technician. “We want them to be happy with their paychecks, so we don’t want a slow day to turn into a slow week,” Gamble explains. “The sooner we can address the reasons for a less productive day, the better.”

On the leadership side, North Hills has doubled the number of managers at each location, from two to four, to reduce stress and fatigue and improve communication with technicians and customers alike.  

The extra money allocated for those salaries has been offset by doubled sales and improved customer satisfaction scores, as managers have enough time to field all calls and questions, produce higher quality estimates, and take breaks to reset as needed.

The business also has hired the majority of its managers from outside the automotive industry, finding that training them on its specific operating procedures is easier than retraining people who have followed a different shop model.

Finally, North Hills has spiffed up its shop spaces and waiting rooms, along with its logos and website, and embraced technology such as cloud-based systems.

A Family’s Fascination for Auto Repair

Among the wall decorations are photos of the family’s original store in New Jersey from the early 20th century. Fascinated by the emerging technology of motor vehicles, Ken Gamble, Sr., first opened an “Automotive Department Store” at age 19.

Ken Gamble III, who relocated to South Carolina in 1978, also joined the industry as a young man, working as a mechanic by 18. He spent several years at a Ford dealership before founding his own one-man, one-bay shop in the North Hills section of Greenville.

Over the next 12 years, the company expanded to seven locations. By around 2011, however, that model was faltering due to economic pressures and an overconcentration of stores in the greater Greenville market.

Jacob Gamble, Ken’s oldest son, opted to trim the company down to its two most successful, high-volume locations. Jacob, who had his first job at North Hills at age 15, has a degree in Business Marketing from Winthrop University.

“Today, we work on more cars with two stores than we did with seven, and we don’t have to go into debt to pay for what we need,” he said. “Our profitability is way up, and our culture is much better, too.”

Rob Gamble, Ken’s youngest son, joined the business on a full-time basis in 2018 after studying Advertising at the University of South Carolina. Like his older brother, he had started working summers there as a teenager, initially sweeping floors.

“When we were out in public, my dad always seemed to run into people who knew him because of our business,” Rob recalls. “It made me proud. I wanted to carry on the legacy my dad built. It is also very special to get to work with my brother.”

In addition, Rob has known many North Hills employees for much if not all of his life: “They are what make our business special; we would be nothing without them. They have become part of the family.”

The Gambles encourage team members to find a good work-life balance to prevent burnout, a philosophy they aim to model. Jacob, a married father of four, is an active church member and passionate offshore fisherman. Rob and his wife have three children; he also enjoys family fishing excursions and watching South Carolina football games.

As for a potential fourth generation of Gamble auto shop owners, the verdict is still out. The oldest of the group, Jacob’s 18-year-old son, has worked at North Hills during school vacations but soon will head to college with no pressure about his future path.  

“My dad never tried to influence me,” Jacob Gamble says. “This was just what I knew, and it also turned out to be what I loved. I’m lucky, because I really do enjoy getting up and coming into work every day.”