Auto repair space revving up for business

A long-vacant auto repair space is revving up for business.

Tim Rehmer, who owns AutoMasters in Sedalia, is opening a second location in the Kmart building in the State Fair Shopping Center.

“It’s a great retail opportunity for us,” Rehmer said in an interview last week at the shop. “Nobody buys new cars in this economy. People are getting their cars fixed instead.”

He’s holding a grand opening from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, with a car show, prizes, giveaways and food, and you can get your car serviced there, too.

A Penske service center had occupied the space for a while, but that closed about eight years ago, Rehmer said, adding that Kmart had been using the room to house inventory. “This was an underutilized space.”

Rehmer had planned to build a store where Menards is, but “I would have had a big, 25-year note,” he said. Instead, he could lease the Kmart location with cash.

He talked with Sears Holdings Corp., which owns Kmart Corp., in November, and after lengthy negotiations, signed a 10-year contract in May.

“The (Kmart) store manager is happy to have us here.”

He said the store will focus on repairing and replacing brakes, tires, shocks and struts, as well as offer quick-oil changes and state inspections.

Vehicles can be brought it for any diagnostic work, as well. That work may be too complicated for the location, but Rehmer said that if that’s the case, the vehicle can be transported to his primary shop, at 2200 W. Main St.

“Everything is new,” he said of the Kmart site, pointing to a set of glass doors that enter the Kmart store. “These were just put in today.”

There are new hoists, gleaming with blue paint. “I had to put in a new tire machine and balancer,” he added.

There are four service bays that face south, on 16th Street. The Kmart main store entrance is on the east side, facing Limit Avenue.

Because the space has been vacant for so long, Rehmer is putting up new signs from Impact Sign & Lighting Co., of Sedalia.

He’s hired two people to run the store, with plans to be open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays. “We’ve always had good help,” he said.

Rehmer opened AutoMasters in 1995. He said it’s been a good location “because it’s close to factories.”

Big customers have paid off, too, he said, citing work for FedEx, Budget Rent A Car and U-Haul. “We sell more Jasper remanufactured engines than anyone else,” he said, adding that he has diesel specialists.

The shop is equipped to make any kind of vehicle repair, except body work.

Rehmer said business has been terrific: “We’ve got a lot of names in our database.”

He said more people are repairing vehicles rather than replacing them. “High mileage is nothing to be afraid of anymore, especially with fuel injection these days.”

He points to his own Dodge Ram 1500 pickup outside a service bay, saying it has more than 200,000 miles on it.

The success of the business is “what’s allowed us to do this,” he said, referring to the new location.

As if running two businesses is not enough, Rehmer has another calling: He’s pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Sedalia.

“Yeah, my mom was a druggie: She always drug me to church,” he jokes.

He grew up in an auto shop environment, though, and was director of engineering at Weld Racing in Kansas City, a wheel manufacturer. “It’s sort of natural,” he said, to work in the shop and the church.

He and his wife, Liz, live in Pettis County.

“We’re local,” he said of the business. “We want to make it work.”