A Shop to Call Home

Out-of-towners traveling through rural Burnt Hills, NY might be surprised to find the charming gray house with red shutters at 817 Saratoga Road isn't a typical house at all. It's the home of a second-generation auto repair business. The homey appearance suits the shop to a tee because Gil's Garage has made a business of turning employees and customers into one big, extended family.

President Mike Brewster says his shop's long-standing success is due in great part to the dedication the business places in its workers. His goal: create the "optimum" workplace. Along with life, health and dental insurance, Gil's provides its employees with a 401k plan, profit sharing, paid training and test time. Monthly staff meetings focus on improving the business and addressing employee issues. During off hours, the shop throws holiday parties and promotes family vacations.

Gil's similarly promotes community involvement. The shop sponsors numerous youth sports, along with two golf tournaments to benefit local charities. Employees regularly attend career days for local schools. The staff even visits a local nursery school to let the children examine the shop tow truck. 

Topping off all these efforts, the shop offers the local high school a scholarship in the name of founder Gil Brewster. The scholarship goes to a graduating senior who best exemplifies the values espoused by Gil and who demonstrates excellence in technology classes. 

So important are these efforts to the business, that Gil's limits its advertising and marketing budgets to invest extra money in its community.
The community has responded with a steady stream of business. Gil's remains busy round the clock, five days a week. "We're 'unofficially' open 24 hours," explains Brewster, "We perform a lot of fleet work and generally that's done at night." The shop offers overnight service to customers needing immediate attention, as well.

"One of the main reasons we stay open is because I have a couple of workers who prefer third shift," Brewster adds.

The extra hours and motivated staff are a virtual necessity because Gil's serves more than 10,000 regular customers. That number is jaw-dropping on its own, but even more impressive when you consider the fact that Burnt Hills is a small community. Brewster describes it as a "bedroom community," with few industries and a population that works heavily in state and civil positions in nearby Albany.

Gil's has won customer loyalty, in great part, by being a one-stop shop that repairs everything. It also stresses personalized service and productive contact with customers. Every repair is preceded by a conference with the customer. The shop encourages questions. Gil's provides in-depth symptom check lists for consumers and service writers to go over before a repair. 

The shop also provides literature defining different repair tasks and detailing the parts of vehicle systems. The object here is educating customers on repairs - specifically, letting them know of the importance of regular maintenance and how it helps prevent more serious, costly work down the road. The time spent with customers also helps put them in a comfort zone, letting them know that not only are their automotive issues being addressed, they're being cared for as people - as family. 

Guiding this attitude, says Brewster, is a company culture established long ago by his father: "Treat everybody on the other side of the counter how you want to be treated." That golden rule serves both Gil's and its community quite well. 

- By Tim Sramcik