One Big Bay
Regular followers of Shop Look will immediately notice the oversized bay extending out of one side of Doug’s Pro Lube. It’s not common for a typical quick maintenance shop, but it’s great for the market in which owner Doug Edgman operates.
“We’ve got several municipalities like fire trucks within a 50-mile radius,” Edgman says. “Some companies bring their semi trucks. We’ll do, I’d say, three to five a week. They all generally hold about 10 gallons of oil.”
An oil change service on a semi truck can bring a great ticket average. Once he got staff members trained to perform services on those vehicles, it became a great part of the overall operation.
Shop: Doug’s Pro Lube
Location: Monett, Mo.
Shop size: two bays + 1 large bay
Staff: 10
Car count: 50-70
Sharp Looks
Edgman has updated the building over the years, including new green paint on the exterior. The most impressive work went into the customer waiting room, which was redone a couple years ago.
“We changed to an antique, ceramic-looking floor,” he says. “The walls are red, and we put LED lights in the waiting room. The front counter was oak colored, and I had seen in a magazine that one had been done in a diamond plate. And we did that, and it just pops now.”
It can be a challenge to keep the space clean, not just because the shop has a massive third bay, but because the inventory orders for heavy-duty truck parts.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff jammed into a little bitty place,” Edgman says. “With the heavy duty stuff, you can’t really buy from a local parts store.”
Added Services
Edgman took over ownership in 2006. Since then, he has patiently added services in order to match his customers’ needs.
“We started out doing oil changes only in the very beginning,” he says. “Now we do oil, a little bit of brakes, a little tune up. We are doing a radiator today on a car.”
They’ve also jumped into some tire sales and service. Edgman says he sells up to 1,500 tires annually. Heck—they might also perform service on a lawnmower every now and then, making his shop a true community asset.
Another customer perk is that the shop offers pickup and delivery for customer vehicles. Average car counts have grown in the years Edgman added services.
