Tiny’s Ltd., expands to Prince Edward Island, proudly partners with NAPA Canada
By Kristen Lipscombe
The newest NAPA AUTOPRO shop on Prince Edward Island may be called Tiny’s – but it’s got big heart.
Tiny’s first opened its doors on the Maritime island in March, with a well-attended and just-splashy-enough grand opening held in June, at its North York River Road location nestled in the small town of Cornwall. So far, the new full-serve NAPA location has a staff of seven including general manager Mike Blanchard and his wife Kim Blanchard, the friendly smile you’ll see in the front office.
“It’s growing into a very successful shop,” said Mike, who owns the new shop alongside Jeff “Tiny” Somerville himself, who opened up his first location in Ingersoll, Ont., back in 2008 by following his passion and natural knack for fixing vehicles.
Tiny’s takes great “pride in offering a wide range of top-notch automotive services,” the company’s website says.
“Whether you’re dealing with a squeaky break, a mysterious electrical issue, or simply need routine maintenance, our skilled technicians are here to assist you,” with high-quality service provided at reasonable prices that reflect fair-market value to keep customers coming back.
The Atlantic Canadian automotive business venture marks a special partnership between Mike, who grew up in the province famous for potatoes; Jeff a.k.a. “Tiny”, who opened shop with the help of his father Gordon Somerville in small-town southwestern Ontario; and NAPA Canada, which has recently welcomed both old and new Tiny’s Ltd., locations to join its well-respected national network.
Mike and Jeff became fast friends after the former had completed his business degree at the University of Prince Edward Island and promptly moved out west to pursue his dreams in the big city of Toronto, where he developed his market research and strategic business consulting skills across industries ranging from major Canadian media outlets to companies out of California.
During his close to three decades out of major business hubs including Burlington, Hamilton and Mississauga, Mike and Jeff eventually found that their philosophies aligned not just personally but also professionally.
“It was never a business relationship; just for two friends talking,” Mike recalled.
Mike eventually decided to move back to his home province, and while reflecting on his good friend’s success in the automotive industry, and the fact that their business values align so closely, it didn’t take long for the buddies to brainstorm a comprehensive plan to expand Tiny’s by opening up a new shop on P.E.I. “He is a big thinker,” Mike said. “Like, there’s a lot of talkers and very few doers – and he’s a doer.”
The old friends and new business partners saw it as a perfect opportunity, particularly with a notable gap that needed to be filled for automotive services available on the island. So they bought an old garage that had been dedicated to diesel trucks and started renovations in January.
“Me and Tiny are a bit of an anomaly in this industry because, he’s a master mechanic and a smart businessman,” Mike explained. “Meanwhile, I’m a guy that comes in and looks at in a completely different lens,” which includes analyzing efficiencies or lack thereof in a data-driven manner, although he’s more of a backyard mechanic.
“The goal is to build out a template that’s repeatable and scalable so that we can sell,” Mike said. “We’ll build a few corporate stores and then we’ll start to franchise it,” he said, with ongoing the metrics ensuring Tiny’s growing team succeeds wherever they land in the country. “You’ll have the research to back it up and that’s how you create sustainable success.”
With both the business guru and automotive expert on board for the new Tiny’s to open its doors, they successfully approached NAPA with their business plan to make both the P.E.I. and Ontario shops reliable AUTOPROs that can set a high standard for future locations.
In fact, the NAPA AUTOPRO team has already visited the new Tiny’s shop to check out what they’re doing differently on the island because “of the levels of revenue that we’re doing so quickly,” Mike said.
“One of the senior executives said, ‘I just want to take this place and make it the template.’ ”
For all parties invested in this new Maritime NAPA AUTOPRO location, “it’s just mutually beneficial.”
Not only is the NAPA brand so highly regarded, Mike said, but the company provides access to the best parts with lifetime warranties; everything about working together as a team just makes sense.
“Their service is just unbelievable. Ninety-five per cent of parts we need are here within 15 minutes,” he added. “They have that national reach and brand recognition and access to everything that you need in order to get things done.”
As for local customer feedback, “we’re getting is that it’s such a different look, feel and environment; entirely different from what people are used to when they’re walking into a non-dealer type scenario,” Mike said. “We wanted to make it very comfortable looking. It’s big, it’s airy and it’s all branded furniture; all branded NAPA.”
Like many Atlantic Canadian NAPA locations, “when we get somebody in, they come back and they tell all of their family and friends,” Mike said. “Some of the messages that we’re getting back to us is that the word on the street is that ‘you guys are incredibly honest and wonderful to deal with.’”
Employees are treated with the same respect as customers, receiving the wage they deserve for the incredible work they do to uphold Tiny’s name and NAPA’s brand.
“We don’t hide the fact that we sell premium parts,” Mike said, adding “we don’t want you to come back every year for a new wheel bearing. We want to give you a wheel bearing that’ll last five years. And if it doesn’t, we’ll replace it.”
“Tiny’s and NAPA is ‘the team you can trust,’ ” Mike said of the slogan becoming commonplace around town.
Back in Ingersoll, Jeff echoes Mike’s sentiments in a way that shows they’re clearly reading from the same car manual; and share not just mutual respect but also dedication to applying driving innovative ideas on the road to success.
“It’s a good relationship, both professionally and personally,” Jeff told Auto and Trucking Atlantic. “Where I lack, he makes up and where he lacks, I make up, so it’s just a good balance. We’re a really good team and I think we’re going to do great things.”
After years of tinkering with cars and eventually turning his love for it into his full-time profession, Jeff “came up with (a) formula that is a general repair shop, and a dealership combined. It gives you the best attributes of both.”
“So we have the professionalism of the dealership … and the accountability and warranty like a dealership, but yet we still have that personal touch,” Jeff said. “And we actually have a conscience. We’re not a flat rate shop; we’re an hourly job. We really try to do our best for our customers.”
Also similarly, Jeff’s wife Jan works side-by-side with her husband at the Ingersoll shop, taking care of the accounting side, and sharing ownership in the new Cornwall location.
“She’s my partner here; I wouldn’t be where I am at here without her,” Jeff said, adding that in total, the original shop has 10 people working there, with an emphasis on everyone being equally valued. “We’re pretty much family.”
And now Tiny’s has become a valued member of the NAPA Canada family, these two long-time friends become business partners are already talking expansion within the next couple of years.
“We’ll have turnkey shops ready to roll,” Tiny said, once again seemingly reading his first franchisee’s mind. “We’ll teach them how to run it the way we run them.”
Whether it’s improving the automotive industry or taking unique business approaches to strategic growth, both Jeff and Mike agree that you have to love what you do in order to achieve success.
“When you can turn your passion into your everyday life, I think that says a lot about the quality,” Jeff said. And considering it’s his name on the storefronts, “it’s got to be the best.”
“I mean, we’re all human, but we really do genuinely take that extra step with everything we do; every service we offer,” Jeff said.
“We always say that ‘we’re the little guys with a big reputation.’”
And even though Tiny’s is growing with the help, support and incredible network of NAPA Canada, the philosophy at the heart of their business won’t change, which is why “it’s going to be a great partnership.”
Learn more about NAPA Canada’s quality products and services at www.napacanada.com.