Decades after opening, Richland AutoCare Center is under new ownership and will eventually become a 360 Automotive & Repair location. 

“The names have changed, but the place is still the same,” said Brent Gerry, former owner of the business at 1621 Terminal Drive in Richland. He is also mayor of West Richland. 

At the beginning of April, Richland AutoCare was acquired by Robert LaLonde, owner of 360 Automotive, which has locations on West Clearwater Avenue in Kennewick and Kennedy Road in West Richland. LaLonde expects to keep the AutoCare name for about a year before rebranding to match his other two locations.

The Richland shop had been a NAPA Auto Care facility, which guarantees its warranties at thousands of other NAPA locations nationwide. Cars holding the warranty will still see the part’s warranty honored. 

“Fortunately, we don’t have a lot of warranty issues,” Gerry said. “We’ve been doing this for 35 years; we know how to do it right the first time.”

Going forward, new repairs at the shop won’t be covered under the NAPA partnership. 

Making an investment

LaLonde has his own focus on honesty and integrity and plans to invest $150,000 into modernizing the facility.

Gerry said he was also on the front end of technology over the years, spending $20,000 on a computer back in the mid-90s that increased efficiency and allowed him to tap into databases of information and customer tracking. Times have changed, along with the cars.

“We had points, plugs, condensers and carburetors; there were no computers,” Gerry said. “Over the years there’s been a transition, which has been a challenge, in itself, because of the fast-changing technology. We had to educate ourselves and keep buying equipment.”

LaLonde knows that same challenge and says it’s a point of pride that he buys high-quality tools and equipment so his technicians have what they need to do their job well. “It makes them feel good and they’re equipped to do what I’m asking of them,” he said. 

A mechanic with financial chops

LaLonde is a mechanic by trade who opened his first shop in Kennewick in 2015 after going to automotive school. He worked in the industry for more than a decade before hanging out his shingle.

“I'm an independent thinker and I wanted to do things differently, and when our youngest was 18, I went to my wife said, ‘Should we cash in our 401(k), get a home equity line of credit and some credit cards and go for it? It’s either going to work or we’re going to be on welfare,’” LaLonde laughed. “And she said, ‘Let's move forward.’”

Nearly a decade on, he’s now the owner of three automotive repair businesses, which was in his original business plan — he just wasn’t sure he’d get it done in 10 years. But LaLonde isn’t a traditional businessman. He nearly has a degree in accounting besides his trade school certification after taking all the classes to become a financial advisor before cutting bait when it came to tax law classes. But he thinks the financial experience helped him be successful as an entrepreneur.

“I still rely on professionals. I can do accounting and numbers, but I don't try to get cute and be legal,” LaLonde said. He relies on a team of financial advisors and industry-specific consultants. “So, I did my diligence and checked all the boxes and try to make it very methodical with well thought out decisions.”

Deciding to sell and buy

That decision-making process was what led him to Richland AutoCare after learning from a technician that Gerry was going to eventually sell after 35 years in business. 

For Gerry, it was important to find a new owner who could carry on a legacy of trust, a quality that is frequently discussed but not always practiced in the industry.

“I certainly wanted somebody who had the honesty and integrity to carry (the business) on, because we’re working with three generations of families here,” Gerry said. “I’ve watched a couple come in carrying a baby in a bassinet, and then I serviced that kid’s vehicle when they were 16, and now they’re married, they have kids and we service their vehicles. So, I wanted to make sure that ‘family first’ was kept since it’s very important to me.”

Family first is also a priority for LaLonde, whose stepson, AJ Schneider, is part of the company and part of LaLonde’s self-titled “exit strategy” when it’s time for him to eventually retire. His stepdaughter, Gabby Schneider, trained in accounting, runs the accounts payable and receivable for 360 Automotive.

With the acquisition, LaLonde now oversees 23 employees, including the lead technician from Richland AutoCare, Charlie Mercado. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

LaLonde said it’s always been a strategy to have his staff be knowledgeable in the industry, all the way down to the person greeting customers.

“We are professionals who offer services, not salesmen who sell,” he said, and likened it to the automotive technicians being the doctors and the advisors being the pharmacists, so each has a working knowledge in the process. 

LaLonde seems to have struck the right balance because he said he’s only turned over a couple employees in the nine years he’s been in business.

Another value he instills among his staff is the goal to be fair and honest, even if it’s not what the customer wants to hear.

“I tell my guys all the time, ‘I’d rather you just tell the customer the truth and annoy them, rather than piss them off later.’ We have what we call an ‘open door policy.’ You can walk in the front door or sneak through the back door, and you’ll hear the same thing,” he said.

With access to YouTube and TikTok mechanics in people’s pockets, LaLonde said he’s been tested by customers who said they knew what was wrong with their vehicle and wanted to verify if his business was trustworthy enough to make the same diagnosis. LaLonde said he passed this test.

Retirement plans

In the short term, LaLonde plans to add four new bays to his Kenenwick garage. An expansion at Richland AutoCare could be down the road before he looks to pass the business on to the next generation.

Gerry and his wife, Denise, look forward to spending more time at their summer home near Chinook Pass or touring the country in their RV. 

Gerry, almost 69 years old, said the advice has been not to wait too long to enjoy these activities. The shop’s sale is also a retirement for Denise as she has done the books for the family business for three decades.

Gerry is grateful to have found a buyer when the time was right.

“While small business is the backbone of America, unfortunately the federal and state governments make it very challenging for the mom-and-pop independent small business – whether it’s business and operation taxes or unfunded mandates the state puts down that put a burden on both the employer and the employees,” he said.

Gerry hopes people keep this in mind when they wonder why it costs so much to get a vehicle serviced.

“First, you have to pay your people good money, which reflects on what it’s going to cost to do the work. Parts are very expensive. You have margins to meet to be successful and obviously in 35 years, we met that challenge. But, it hasn’t been without a burden to our customers because of what it cost to service a vehicle today,” he said.

The repair center’s hours are 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday.

360 Automotive/Richland AutoCare Center: 1621 Terminal Drive, Richland; 509-572-2769; 360autoandrepair.com.