Photos courtesy Shum’s Auto Repair
SHOP: Shums Auto Repair LOCATION: Philadelphia OWNER: Andrey Shumylo SIZE: 3,800 square feet
STAFF: 4 (2 full-time technicians, 1 part-time tech, and 1 owner/service advisor)
MONTHLY CAR COUNT: 177 ANNUAL REVENUE: $600,000
1) Andrey Shumylo cut his teeth working at a Honda dealership in Philadelphia when he was 24. He longed to own his own shop one day, and saw a need for quality, independent service centers in the area. He saved up, and after opening a small shop with his brother and cousin at age 26, the three of them were later able to purchase a different building that once housed a five-bay repair shop.
“It was a one-bay building,” Shumylo says of his first shop. “It was off a beaten path. It was only referrals and friends for the most part.”
Now, at 31, he owns the refurbished shop that resides on a high-traffic road in Philadelphia. Shumylo recently redid his storefront with new signage and fresh paint to better appeal to customers just passing by the shop.
?2) Perhaps the most noticeable feature in the lobby of Shums is a giant birdcage and its resident, Missie, the shop bird. A 3-year-old macaw, Missie will happily squawk at customers and entertain their children, and even put on a show for those that will dance with her.
“Missie is the shop mascot,” Shumylo says. “She’s been with us since the beginning. Everybody likes her, especially the kids. Women like to dance with her and she dances back. Usually referrals come in and say, ‘You’re the place with the bird.’ So I think it actually attracts customers.”
?3) One of the things Shumylo preaches to his technicians is education. He says he and his techs attend every class taught in the area related to working with the latest applications and diagnostic technology; each team member completes between 40 and 50 training hours a year.
The computer on the shop floor of Shums is another tool that keeps the technicians prepared for each job. It runs diagnostic and repair programs like AutoEnginuity and Launch Tech, has parts-ordering capabilities and is used to research OEM repair information.??
??4) Another area that Shumylo says sets his shop apart is its cleanliness. When he worked at the Honda dealership, they had an old Cuda machine that washed parts. Shumylo says he knew once he was able to afford it, he wanted to put a Cuda washer in his shop so he could show his customers the sparkling effort they put into each car.
“Any time we do engine work, I don’t like putting dirty stuff on the engine, so we clean up everything to new condition and the customers really appreciate it,” Shumylo says. “It really saves time instead of using a brush and solvent.” ?
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