HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2015-08-05, Page 3Wednesday, August 5, 2015 • Lucknow Sentinel 3
Valerie Gillies/Lucknow Sentine
Connie Jefferson, wife of Kevin and mom of Kody, rounds out the team at the family -run business as
the Business Manager at Son & Pop Auto Shop in Lucknow. July 29, 2015.
The Jefferson family has totally renovated, updated and spruced up the newly opened Son & Pop
Auto Shop after purchasing the 504 Campbell Street, Lucknow building from owner Howard Neable
where he had operated his business HJ Sales. July 29, 2015.
Son & Pop Auto Shop open for business
Valerie Gillies
Lucknow Sentinel
Lucknow has a new
business and a new family
in town. The Jefferson
family has purchased, ren-
ovated and opened their
business premises Son &
Pop Auto Shop at 504
Campbell Street. The
Grand Opening was on
July 4.
The family -run business
consists of Connie Jeffer-
son who works as Business
Manager while her hus-
band Kevin and son Kody
do the auto repairs. Connie
stresses that the whole
idea came about as they
noticed that "family -run
businesses are a dying
breed:'
Kevin has a passion for
auto mechanics. He has
been licensed to do all-
around truck and auto ser-
vice since 1993, but began
his 5 -year apprenticeship
in 1988. Connie relates that
from being a mechanic's
wife for so many years, she
has constantly been hear-
ing, especially from
women, that too many
mechanics take advantage
of people who do not know
how to fix their own vehi-
cles and try to upsell the
repairs or recommend
repairs that do not even
need to be done. Connie
was shocked to hear this so
often as, "Kevin is not that
guy."
Connie has been trained
and working in business
management as well as
occupational health and
safety. Her successes have
come from being able to pin-
point the strengths and
weaknesses in businesses to
try to eliminate the weak-
ness while building on the
strengths. This is a key to the
survival and growth of any
business.
Kody is currently an
apprentice mechanic and
is certified in the Ontario
Motor Vehicle Industry
Council (OMVIC) which is
the required certification
to inspect and repair used
vehicles for resale. This is
something that will be of
even more benefit when
the business expands in
the future to include the
selling used vehicles. Con-
nie quips that for now,
Kody does most of the
repairs while Kevin
supervises.
The Jeffersons were
brought to Lucknow by
Mother Nature. Kevin and
Connie relate the story of
how they were trying to
get to Kincardine in the
winter when a freak snow
storm came up. Between
the storm and other
related circumstances, the
family were rerouted and
ended up coming into
Lucknow to the stop sign
at the intersection where
they saw the For Sale sign
on the former HJ Sales
auto shop. They decided
that this was a perfect
place for them to follow
their dream of a true fam-
ily -run business which
would also follow Kevin's
passion. This has since
become the passion of the
family.
They purchased the
shop from Howard Neable
and began the process of
completely renovating and
revamping the building to
be able to service the
updated cars. This
included a new hoist and
the required modern
equipment for diagnostics
and service. While reno-
vating, it was decided that
the family focus should
extend to the families of
the customers and the
community. The lounge
area was redecorated to
include a playpen to help
parents who come in with
their hands full, movies
and free wifi for their
guests. Connie says that is
important to them. "We
don't mind having the kids
around as long as every-
thing is done safely." Feed-
back has told them that
they have the best wifi sig-
nal in the area as it is
always at five bars.
Kevin and Connie relo-
cated to the community of
Lucknow. Kody has now
also relocated his family of
wife Annika and their two
young boys to Lucknow
from London. Annika is
trained in research and
development sciences
from Western University.
Their older son already has
aspirations to step into the
family business when he
grows up. The Jeffersons
agree that this is another
aspect of their decision to
open Son & Pop Auto
Shop. It is already in the
planning that Kody will
eventually step up to being
Pop with his own Son
working with him, passing
the family business natu-
rally on to the next
generation.
As the proprietors of
Son & Pop Auto Shop,
Kevin, Connie and Kody
Jefferson look forward to
meeting the community
and helping to make their
vehicles the best that they
can be. Connie states that
they want their reputation
to become that of being
one of serving families
and the community well
and demonstrating that
they understand the needs
and challenges of families
and the fears that some
women face in dealing
with auto repair. They are
overwhelmed and sur-
prised at the welcome and
gifts that they received
during their Grand Open-
ing. At this point, it is felt
that this was a very posi-
tive move for both the
family and the
community.
I il*Alit.W0K0114
Son & Pop Auto Shop mechanics are working in their newly
renovated shop at 504 Campbell Street, Lucknow. From left: Son
Kody Jefferson, Pop Kevin Jefferson. July 29, 2015.
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