What 105 years of history has taught Camargo Transmission
Camargo Transmission, in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, first opened in 1918, when original owner William Cockrell returned home from World War I. For a company that opened its doors just four years after Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot to have weathered not just the Great Recession of 2007-08, but the Great Depression of the 1920s itself,
Shop profile: DL Transmissions has leveraged a new location into significant success
Location, location, location. It’s commonly cited as a real estate motto, but really, it’s essential for any type of business. Whether it means being in close proximity to as many customers as possible or simply being in a visible or noticeable location, it can be a key to success for a transmission repair shop. After
Shop profile: Colorado Engine has built a name for itself focusing on the whole powertrain
Colorado Engine may have “engine” in the name, but transmissions are also a key component of the business for a shop that deals with the entire powertrain. Started in 1983 as a wholesale warehouse distributor for factory remanufactured engines and transmissions, in 2000 they opened an install center, according to owner George Anderson. “So probably
A long journey to success at New Jersey’s Wholesale Transmissions
“We’ve been family-owned since 1985,” Mike Nader says of his shop, New Jersey’s Wholesale Transmissions. Mike’s father started off as a multi-shop Cottman Transmission franchisee in the ‘80s. But when he passed away, it left his widow Georgette to, as Mike says, “pick up the pieces.” “She didn’t know anything about the transmission business,” Mike
California’s Rohnert Park Transmissions is a multi-generational success story
Fernando Gomez’s dad got into the business after being in the Army. “It was what he always wanted to do,” Fernando says. But that wasn’t the case for Fernando at first. “My dad needed an apprentice and he was a pretty tough guy to work for, so they were having trouble finding somebody to be
Doing the little things right at Habby’s Transmissions
Habby’s Transmissions started as a radiator shop. When Warren Frie bought it in 1975 (keeping the name Habby’s from the previous owner), it took until the mid-1980s until he saw an opportunity in the transmission repair market, and transformed the business. “Then, when I was 19,” says Warren Frie Jr., the current owner, “I graduated
Going the extra mile: Price’s Garage builds on a family legacy
Joshua Price grew up in the transmission industry — so much so that he used to take copies of this very magazine to school with him. “I’ve been in this business my whole life,” he says. “My dad had a transmission shop; he was in business from 1967 to 2008.” Bob Price’s shop was called
Rolling with the changes: How Mister Transmission plans to continue growing in its 60th year and beyond
Tony Kuczynski may be on the executive side of the transmission industry these days, but having gotten his start as a technician, he has experience with both the business and the technical side of things. For the past five years, Tony has been president and CEO of Mister Transmission, Canada’s largest transmission repair shop chain,
Shop profile: Fryar’s Transmission is keeping up the reputation
His grandparents warned him that the transmission industry was a “tough business.” But Matt Fryar, who grew up around the business, ended up in it anyway. The family shop, Fryar’s Transmission in Pearcy, Arkansas, was opened in 1965 by Matt’s great-grandfather, Weldon Fryar. At the time it was called Fryar’s Garage and was a general
From the ground up: Dunn Transmissions trades on a long history and a strong reputation
The founder of Dunn Transmissions, a shop which has become a staple of the East Texas city of Tyler, was Truman Dunn, a World War II veteran who worked on cars in his spare time. He opened a repair shop called Dunn’s Transmission Shop in 1950, specializing in what was, at the time, the latest
Shop profile: Virginia’s AAMCO Transmissions is built on life lessons from a family of industry lifers
Mary Gentry has been around transmissions and automotive repair all her life. Her father ran a shop, her brothers are all in the transmission business; she even met her husband in her shop. It pretty much runs in the family. Growing up in the business, you learn a lot of lessons. Mary, owner of AAMCO
Shop profile: Small-town RAMM Transmission puts family first
When you spend time talking to transmission repair shops, you’ll hear a lot about the importance of family. Transmission shops, after all, tend to be small and specialized, so it follows that many of them are family-owned and operated. Rare is the transmission shop, though, that is 100% family staffed. But that is the case
