With a father as an auto repair facility owner, Martin Woods was immersed in the automotive industry from a very young age.
Later in his life and after working 13 years in retail loss prevention, Woods felt called back to his automotive roots.
As a result, he left his job and opened a tire dealership and auto repair facility, Martin's Tire & Service, in the same building as his father’s business.
“It was split right down the middle,” says Woods. “The front five bays were his business and the back five bays were empty. I took over those and started my shop.
“After three years, my father said that he wanted to retire. As a result, I purchased the building from my grandfather, knocked down the wall dividing the two sides and opened all the bays. Presently, we're a 10-bay full-service facility.”
Eye-catching excellence
When visiting Martin’s Tire & Service, which is based in Burton, Mich., one of the first things that customers notice is its eye-catching color scheme — a decision driven by Woods’ experience in retail.
“We paired black and safety orange to make sure that the shop popped,” he says. “When people come in for the first time, they're like, ‘I've lived in this area this whole time and I never knew you were here.’
“Because our building sits sideways from the road, it’s sometimes hard to see. We have small frontage road, which means our sign is also small, so I wanted to do anything I could to grab customers’ eyes as they drove by.
“The orange pops not only in the (company's) logo, but also inside the bays. When the doors are open, you can see the orange stripe around the inside.”
Beyond aesthetics
When choosing the color scheme, Woods also kept in mind the importance of a clean look.
“The color scheme keeps the uniforms looking nice and clean so that customers don’t see our techs in a filthy uniform,” he says. “Quality and making sure that everybody's vehicle is in a neat and clean environment — from our lobbies to our bays is important to us.”
Going the extra mile
In addition to the dealership’s cleanliness and desirable colors, the value Martin’s Tire & Service offers its customers is highly important.
The dealership provides “a lot of perks,” says Woods. “These include a three-year 36,000-mile nationwide warranty, free roadside assistance for a year, free towing reimbursement and tire replacement coverage nationwide.”
The dealership also offers loaner vehicles, advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) calibrations and constant training for employees.
Woods is always sending his staff to several training events and makes sure his front-of-house staff and technicians are enrolled in continuous training programs.
When asked why he and his team invest so much into the dealership, Woods says, “Because we want to make sure our customer experience is unparalleled.”
