When you talk to Tammy Hocking for the first time, you feel like you’ve known her all of your life.
It’s this easy-going personality and her 28 years of experience in the automotive aftermarket that transforms the attitude of many of the customers that do business with her.
“As women, we tend to smile more,” says Hocking of her and her other female co-worker Susan Pommerer. “Customers come in upset about their cars not working, but usually when they leave, they’re happy.”
As manager of Carquest Auto Parts in Valley City, N.D., Hocking says it’s her experience in the aftermarket that really has played a major role in being successful in a traditionally male-dominated field.
“If I didn’t know anything about parts, it would be a catastrophe,” says Hocking, who believes she is the only woman auto parts manager in North Dakota. “I’m well accepted by my male customers because of my vast knowledge, and our women customers also feel much more at home here.”
Originally from California, Hocking moved to Alaska in 1976 where she applied for a bookkeeping job at an independent automotive parts store. Because that position had already been filled, she was hired as a driver and then was later placed behind the counter. Hocking worked there for more than 11 years before transferring to Eagle River, Alaska where she managed a Grand Auto Service Station. She was one of only three women in that state to hold the title of auto parts manager. With 27 years of experience, she came to the Valley City store in 2003.
“The Valley City store was one of the first CarQuest stores,” says Hocking.
“I was also with Carquest when I worked in Eagle River, but it was the strong work ethic of the Midwest that drew me here,” she adds. “The people who worked the hardest for me in Alaska were all from the Midwest.”
Originally known as the General Trading Company when it opened in 1964, Hocking’s store has been a member of Carquest for 22 years. Their distribution center is in Lakeville, Minn. which gives their store the advantage of getting parts that they don’t stock delivered overnight.
Although the name of the store was changed to Carquest Auto Parts in the early ’80s, many people still refer to it by its former name.
“We’ve taken the old signs down three days ago, and the front has been painted, so that our Carquest name becomes more predominant,” says Hocking. “We’ve always been the same store, but people here just grew attached to the old name.”
Located just 60 miles west of Fargo, this Carquest store serves a large agricultural base.
“The farmers make up a large chunk of our loyal customers,” says Hocking. “We are farmer friendly and make farm deliveries, as well.”
In addition to selling automotive parts, the store builds its own hydraulic hoses. They mix automotive paint, turn drums and rotors, test alternators, starters and batteries. The store is well supplied with automotive paint. “We’re currently looking at a machine where we can put auto paint in spray cans to get a perfect match,” says Hocking.
They also sell high-performance, specialty items (which are located in the back of the store) and build battery cables.
“We sell everything, from nuts to bolts,” says Hocking. “If we don’t have it, we’ll get it for you.”
Although computers have made it so much quicker for parts professionals to check parts availability, Hocking says there are times when they have to pull out one of their thick reference books to look up an older part.
“Since many of our customers have older cars, we have to rely on these books, as well,” she adds.
Hocking is in an enviable position because business is so good that she needs more staff.
“It’s been a record month, and actually, we are looking for a record year,” she says. “We just purchased a second delivery truck to handle the demand.”
“The size of the store isn’t the problem when handling a busy clientele…we just need more people behind the counter,” she adds.
How sweet is that?
