In the quick lube industry and aftermarket, Mark Agan has seen it all.
He began working on cars when he was thirteen years old; moved to restoration; hustled tires as a young man at the tire shop; changed oil at a lube shop; trained mechanics; became a system and services manager (and later managed million-dollar stores).
“I had seven states under my discretion with Valvoline,” he says.
Today, he’s the chief operations officer at Strickland Brothers 10 Minute Oil Change, a rapidly growing chain of stores and franchises that began in North Carolina and now has footholds in several surrounding states (with plans to keep growing).
“We started franchising pretty heavily last year,” he says, as over 200 stores adopted the Strickland banner, “and we currently have about over forty shops open and gaining momentum. We hope to open an additional 100-125 units in 2022.”
That’s a lot of units, a lot of customers and a lot of lube jobs, parts, components and more to account for, both on the vehicle and within the shop.
To help Strickland Brothers scale up while keeping their metaphorical feet on the ground, Agan and his team look to Devon.
A Relationship-based Partner in Profit
As Strickland Brothers scales up, Agan is quick to note that parts and availability are certainly important, but it’s the relationship he and his team have developed with Devon that really sets them apart as a quick lube supply center equipment juggernaut and partner in profit.
“Devon is a one-stop shop for Strickland Brothers,” he says.
“The guy who sold us our first filter is still working with us today; we’re big on direct contact and our primary rep at Devon has never let us down. I knew to grow at a fast pace we needed a reliable partner.”
Agan says that Devon (and even to an extent, himself) had no idea how fast their endeavor was going to grow. When he asked for a quote on a huge variety and volume of products, Devon delivered; he liked it, he bought it and it was off to the races for Strickland Brothers.
“We built the prototype and I bought the entire equipment package from Devon—lifts, pumps, filters, oil pans and tanks—anything and everything I needed to outfit my stores.”
Agan says that Devon worked with his team to get everything to every store (seven states in the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond) promptly, efficiently, without issue or complaint, besides the 2020 usual—pandemic slowdowns of the supply chain.
“He laid it down,” Agan says of his rep, “he told me right away that tanks and lifts were backed up. He laid out a timetable about how to order the products and they made good on that promise.
“We came out of COVID knocking record months out.”
To learn how Devon can help supply your store, check out devonlube.com.
