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Staying Comfortable Behind the Counter
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By Counterman
Heavy-duty repair shops around the country reported up to a 40% year-over-year increase in counter sales, according to Fullbay’s 2023-2024 State of Heavy-Duty Repair Report.
Labor rates went up approximately $10 per hour compared to the 2022-2023 data.
link hidden, please login to view published the fourth-annual report in partnership with ATA’s Technology and Maintenance Council. “Our most extensive report to date, the fourth-annual edition brims with valuable data and analysis tailored to assist repair shops in optimizing their operations,” said Patrick McKittrick, CEO of Fullbay. “This all-encompassing report serves as a valuable resource for shop owners and managers, enabling them to benchmark their shop’s key metrics against counterparts nationwide. We take pride in providing transparent and unbiased data, supporting our industry partners and peers in their consideration of heavy-duty vehicle maintenance best practices.”
Among the highlights in the report:
45% of respondents reported between 21% to 40% increases of counter sales from 2022 to 2023 Labor rates increased 9% across the country in 2023 – equating to a roughly $10-per-hour increase Over 40% of respondents reported a net profit between 11% and 20% 18% of shops surveyed were pulling in between $1 million to $2 million each year, while 12% reported revenue between $250,001 and $500,000 25% of technicians indicated they worked at only three shops throughout the course of their entire career “For over 60 years, TMC has aided in developing best practices, technology, and maintenance practices to support the heavy-duty repair industry to specify and maintain their fleets more effectively,” said TMC Executive Director Robert Braswell. “There is no shortage of challenges repair shops face, and this annual report is an excellent tool for individuals of all sectors within the industry to use as a guide when faced with those particular challenges on a daily basis.”
Fullbay’s report data is drawn from individual survey responses and real-world shop data. More than 1,000 individuals from the commercial freight, logistics and repair industries completed the survey, while shops across North America, Australia and New Zealand were sampled for authentic shop data. Those surveyed were a combination of both customers and non-customers of Fullbay, while all sampled data went through data masking.
The 2024 report is available for free download
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By Counterman
Randy Shambro’s love affair with cars began at a young age.
Shambro recalls gazing longingly at the Dodge Darts in the showroom window when he walked by Mr. Norm’s Grand-Spaulding Dodge on the west side of Chicago. At the time, it was the biggest high-performance Dodge dealership in the country. Co-owner Norm Kraus rose to prominence by squeezing big-block V-8 engines into the Dart (something Chrysler said was impossible), inspiring Chrysler to produce the 383 Dart GTS and the memorable M-Code 440 Dart GTS. Kraus remains a legendary figure among Dodge/Mopar performance enthusiasts (see sidebar for more).
Growing up in the golden age of muscle cars – near the epicenter of the Dodge/Mopar performance world at the time – was a formative experience for Shambro.
“I’ve always liked cars, even when I was a kid,” Shambro recalls. “I used to look out the window of my house and I could tell what kind of car was going by. Now you can hardly tell. But back in the day, you could tell by the front end and the bumpers.”
Shambro, the 2023 Counter Professional of the Year sponsored by WIX Filters, has parlayed his love of muscle/pony cars into a fulfilling career in the automotive aftermarket that has spanned more than 40 years. Today, he is the assistant manager at O’Reilly Auto Parts store 3381 in Chicago.
Shambro’s story begins in 1977, when he purchased a 1965 Plymouth Barracuda (which he still owns today). Obsessed with his beloved Barracuda, he made so many trips to Sunnyside Parts Warehouse for replacement parts that the manager eventually asked him if he’d like to work there. Shambro took him up on the offer.
“I was pretty much an order picker at first,” Shambro recalls. “I was filling orders from dealerships, pulling fenders, tracking down crash parts.”
The employee discount wasn’t the only part of the job that appealed to him, though. “I liked the job a lot,” Shambro says. “There was a lot of camaraderie with the guys I was working with. It was a lot of fun.”
link hidden, please login to viewPhoto by Kristen Hudson
A few years later, Shambro landed a job as a counterman in the parts department of a local Chrysler dealership. Shambro saw it as a great opportunity to leverage his experience with Chrysler parts. Plus, prior to working in the aftermarket, he’d been able to enroll in some classes at a Chrysler technician-training center, thanks to a shop owner who had worked on his Barracuda.
In the early 1980s, Shambro worked at a mom-and-pop shop called Almor Auto Parts.
“I was cutting drums and rotors, pressing bearings and U-joints and cutting flywheels,” he recalls.
Shambro bounced around for a bit, working at independent and franchised parts stores. In some cases, the store closed or couldn’t afford to keep him on the payroll. For several years, when his wife, Ellie, lost her job, Shambro was working two jobs to support his family.
Through it all, he never questioned his choice of career.
“I wanted to do parts. That was always my main thing,” he says. “I enjoyed it. Back in the day, I had part numbers memorized, so I could pick them up right off the shelf without looking anything up.”
Starting in the early 1990s, Shambro spent 15 years selling aftermarket accessories and custom parts. The timing turned out to be fortuitous: When the first “Fast & Furious” movie hit U.S. theaters in 2001, it inspired a new generation of car enthusiasts – and sales of aftermarket accessories exploded.
“We made a lot of money when ‘Fast & Furious’ came out,” Shambro recalls. “I was selling nitrous kits, body graphics, spoiler kits, spoiler packages. I used to sell LED [exhaust] tips, but those didn’t last long in Chicago because of the salt.”
O’Reilly: A Great Fit
Shambro’s career has shifted into high gear since joining O’Reilly Auto Parts in 2009.
As a member of Team O’Reilly, Shambro has been able to showcase his deep parts knowledge, customer-first sales mentality and roll-up-your-sleeves work ethic. It’s been a great fit. Since he joined O’Reilly, Shambro has progressed from the role of parts specialist to retail service specialist to his current position of assistant store manager.
O’Reilly has recognized Shambro on multiple occasions for his sales achievements, and he is quick to credit O’Reilly for fostering a supportive culture that has allowed him to thrive. “They take care of you,” Shambro says of O’Reilly. “If there’s anything you need – any questions, any problems – they’re there for you. They always work with me on my schedule. And they have a great culture. We all work together, and we have each other’s back.”
That support system starts with his district Manager, Fred Perez, who accompanied Shambro to AAPEX in Las Vegas, where Babcox Media (publisher of AMN/Counterman) and WIX Filters formally presented the 2023 Counter Professional of the Year award to Shambro.
Perez agrees that O’Reilly has been an outstanding fit for Shambro, and vice-versa.
“He still has that enthusiasm for O’Reilly,” Perez adds. “Randy lives by our cultural values. He believes in them and he talks about them all the time.”
link hidden, please login to viewRandy Shambro and Fred Perez at AAPEX in Las Vegas O’Reilly store 3381 is located at 7250 West Foster Ave. in Chicago. A lifelong Chicagoan, Shambro has been selling parts in that neighborhood since the early 1980s. He’s known some of his current customers for 30-plus years.
Over the years, parts stores have come and gone, and vehicle technology has taken a quantum leap. But Shambro’s approach to customer service is timeless.
“It’s about putting in the time, getting to know the customers and building those relationships,” he explains. “You take care of the customer, answer whatever questions they have and make sure you get them the right stuff at the right time so they don’t have to make another trip back to the store. You go out to their car if they want to show you something or if they need something. You go the extra mile. And after a while, they start asking for you.
“It’s about taking care of the customers. That’s pretty much all I do.”
When it comes to taking care of customers – making sure they have what they need to complete the job the first time – Shambro sets the standard within the store and throughout the district, according to Perez.
“Let’s say a customer is looking for a new battery,” Perez explains. “Before selling them a brand-new battery, he’s going to ask some questions, and he’ll probably go out and test the battery, the alternator or the starter. Before he sells anything, he’ll try to diagnose the problem to make sure they have the part they need to do the job right. No sense selling a battery if it’s going to come back.”
link hidden, please login to viewFrom left: Kurk Wilks, president and CEO of MANN+HUMMEL; Randy Shambro; and Brad Beckham, co-president and incoming CEO of O’Reilly Auto Parts
One of the hallmarks of a Counter Professional of the Year is consistently going above and beyond for the customer. That’s standard practice for Shambro, who often visits customers after clocking out. Mike Ignoffo, owner of Iggy’s Muffler in Norridge, Illinois, has been a beneficiary of Shambro’s willingness to go the extra mile when needed.
“He does it all the time, to be honest with you,” Ignoffo says. “If he doesn’t have a part on hand, he says, ‘Let me see who has it.’ He finds it as fast as he can and he gets it here.”
Ignoffo is one of those customers in the neighborhood who has known Shambro for decades.
“I trust him,” Ignoffo says. “A lot of times I’ll ask him [about a part] and he’ll say, ‘This works fine. We’ve been using it a long time; I’ve tried it and it always works out.’”
Always Learning
With more than 40 years of experience in the parts business, it might be tempting for Shambro to rest on his laurels, especially when it comes to training and education. However, that’s not the case. “It seems like his motto is to try to learn something new everyday,” says Perez.
To stay current with the latest automotive technology, Shambro maintains his ASE P2 certification and his O’Reilly CPP (Certified Parts Professional) designation.
Perez emphasizes that Shambro is always eager to share that knowledge and expertise with other employees.
“Randy is a great mentor,” Perez says. “He coaches all the new team members who come aboard, and he leads by example.”
The qualities that make Shambro a model co-worker are the same ones that drive him to provide outstanding customer service on a day-to-day basis, according to Perez.
link hidden, please login to viewShambro and Norm Kraus “He doesn’t just care about the customers – he cares about everybody in general,” Perez explains. “He wants to help anybody in any way that he possibly can. He’s the kind of guy who sacrifices a lot. He’s willing to change schedules for somebody who needs to have a certain day off. He not only helps out at this store when we’re shorthanded, but he’ll help out other stores that need help if somebody calls off. It’s the way he is. It’s in his heart. It’s the way he was built, in a manner of speaking.”
It also helps that Shambro has found his calling. There’s a well-worn Chinese proverb – attributed to Confucius – that goes like this: “Choose a job that you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” That certainly applies to Shambro.
“I love what I do,” he declares. “I’ve been doing it for a long time, and I love taking care of customers.”
So what’s next for Randy Shambro?
At 66, Shambro says he isn’t quite ready to retire just yet, although he considers the Counter Professional of the Year award to be the crowning achievement of a long and rewarding career.
Recently, someone asked him if he planned to ease into retirement, perhaps as a part-time delivery driver. It’s fairly common to see older, semi-retired parts pros take part-time jobs as delivery drivers. But Shambro doesn’t see that as a viable option. “I’m a counter guy – I’m not a driver,” Shambro says. “I’ll do this until I can’t do it anymore. That’s how much I enjoy it.”
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By Counterman
In 1986, Counterman announced its first “Counterman of the Year.”
While the name has changed slightly, the intent of the Counter Professional of the Year hasn’t: The award recognizes America’s most trusted “go-to” men and women behind the parts counter.
“Believe it or not, the personnel working behind the counters in the nation’s auto parts stores have never been recognized on an industry-wide basis,” former Counterman Editor Larry Silvey wrote in the February 1986 issue.
That’s no longer the case, of course, as we’re in the 38th year of the Counter Professional of the Year. But we need your nominations to keep the program strong and vibrant.
If you’re chosen as the Counter Professional of the Year, you’ll receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas for AAPEX 2023, including a VIP experience at the Babcox Media/WIX Filters “Night of Excellence.” You’ll also be featured in the December 2023 issue of Counterman.
Nominating a counter pro (or yourself) is easy. Just visit
link hidden, please login to view, fill out the nomination form and we’ll take care of the rest. The 2023 Counter Professional of the Year award is sponsored by
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By Counterman
It’s no secret that the automotive aftermarket is a male-dominated industry. Times are changing, of course, and women are finding more opportunities in the aftermarket – and flourishing in them. (Look no further than our annual “Women at the Wheel” series for myriad examples.)
Still, overcoming deeply entrenched attitudes and biases can be an uphill struggle – even for the Counter Professional of the Year.
Amanda Balk, manager of the Auto Value store in Thorp, Wisconsin, credits Automotive Parts Headquarters (APH) for supporting her professional development and making her feel like she’s part of the APH family. But, earlier in her career, she hit a temporary roadblock: a former manager who believed that women had no place in the aftermarket – or behind the counter.
“He didn’t have a whole lot of faith, so he kept me pretty busy with driving and doing a lot of other stuff,” says Balk. “I wasn’t on the counter much at first.”
As things got busier, Balk got more time behind the counter. After leaving the business briefly, she returned to the store as a full-fledged counter person – with a different manager at the helm. Since then, the accolades have been piling up for Balk.
In 2014, APH recognized her as the Auto Value Counterperson of the Year. In 2020, Balk was the Auto Value Impact Player of the Year.
Earlier this year, APH named Balk the 2021 Auto Value Store Manager of the Year. Balk has been managing the Auto Value store in Thorp since June 2019.
Now, Balk can add another award to her mantle: the 2022 Counter Professional of the Year, sponsored by WIX Filters.
Balk’s accomplishments come as no surprise to Matt Koxlien, regional manager for Auto Value in western and northern Wisconsin. Koxlien has been working with Balk since he joined the company in 2017.
“The first thing you notice, of course, is that her conversational skills are off the charts,” Koxlien says. “She’s super easy to talk to. She treats everybody as if she’s known them for years, even if she’s meeting them for the first time.”
As a former technician, Balk brings a high automotive IQ to each interaction, and she “really speaks the language” – whether the customer is looking for “tractor parts or complex driveline components.”
“She couples all of that ability with a great personality,” Koxlien adds. “So it’s a pretty easy interaction for our customers.”
link hidden, please login to viewPhoto by Mark Trockman Balk’s approach to customer service is built on honesty, transparency and integrity – bedrock Midwestern values that resonate with customers in this rural community.
“You listen to what your customers want and need, and try to go into it with an open mind,” Balk explains. “If the answer isn’t right there in front of you, sometimes you have to dig a little bit for it.”
As much as counter pros love to say “yes” every time, prioritizing the customer’s best interests over anything else means you might have to “direct them to the next place” from time to time, Balk adds.
“You might tell them, ‘I could keep looking for this, but I know where you can find it quicker. If you go to the hardware store down the street, they can probably fix you up with the small-engine parts, because they have small-engine repair there.’ People love that around here, because we’re a small community.
“We want people to get the right part and get it as soon as they can. And sometimes we’re not the fastest place. Just being honest with them is huge. And I think people look at that as [not being] afraid to help somebody else’s business besides ourselves.”
Established in 1876, the city of Thorp is located along Wisconsin Highway 29 between Eau Claire and Wausau. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Thorp has a population of 1,795 residents, as of the 2020 census.
Balk grew up in the area, graduating from Holcombe High School in 2004. Her deep roots in the community certainly play to her advantage – as does her passion for motorsports. In her younger years, Balk restored and raced snowmobiles with her dad. Over the past decade or so, she and her husband, Josh (better known as “Cowboy”) have been active in truck and tractor pulling. Their 14-year-old son, Landen – who started pulling on garden tractors when he was 4 – helps out too, and the Balks hope that he’ll be pulling on a full-size tractor next season.
When they’re not pulling, they’re riding their Harley motorcycles as a family.
“If you drew a 40-mile circle [around the Thorp area], anybody who would be interested in any of those types of things, she would know them,” Koxlien says of Amanda’s passion for motorsports. “And she always remembers them. So it’s a pretty darn easy transaction once you already know the person, or even if it seems like she does – because you can hardly tell if she knows them or not. She treats them all the same way.”
Finding a Niche
APH, a member of the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance, specializes in rural markets such as Thorpe. With Balk’s “style of doing business, coupled with what we do best in our company” – as Koxlien puts it – the Thorpe Auto Value store is thriving.
“That location has always done really well,” Koxlien says. “To think that we could be seeing numbers that are substantially higher than what they were when were operating before she [became manager] is just amazing. She’s put another digit on the right side of the decimal point.”
How do you move the needle in a county that’s known for having twice as many cows as people? (Or should we say, how do you mooove the needle?) Of course, it starts with great customer service, which Balk and her team deliver on a daily basis.
Going above and beyond to make sure their customers get the right part in the right place at the right time isn’t so much above and beyond for the store’s nine employees – it’s the norm. They’ve delivered hydraulic fluid to broken-down semi-trucks on the side of the highway. Recently, they delivered an alternator to a customer who was stranded in a parking lot.
“If a shop is on the way home, and they need something first thing in the morning, we’ll swing by and drop it off,” says Balk, who estimates that 70% of the store’s business comes from DIFM customers. “We’re all pretty good about that.”
Another way to grow the business is branching out into new parts categories – like paint and body.
“The store never had a paint-and-body presence, to speak of,” Koxlien says. “She taught herself the paint business, and she’s taking advantage of that. Now it’s a pretty good part of our business.”
At the end of the day, though, it all comes down to relationships.
“She feeds off of the relationships with the customers,” Koxlien says. “She takes pride in getting to know people really well, and understanding what they need. It’s almost like mind-reading with some of her customers, she’s been doing business with them for so long.”
Writing on the Wall
Balk never thought she’d make a career out of selling auto parts. Looking back on her childhood, though, you might say the writing was on the wall from an early age.
As a kid, the Wisconsin native spent a lot of time on her aunt and uncle’s dairy farm. Often, Balk’s uncle called upon her to help fix a piece of equipment that required “little hands” to remove or install a bolt or some other part. Once, when the shifter on a four-wheeler broke off, she took it upon herself to weld it back in place. She was 12.
“We still have that four-wheeler,” Balk says. “My aunt gave it to me. The shifter that I welded back on when I was 12 is still there.”
From her stepdad, she learned how to prep cars for the demolition derby, essentially by gutting them of wiring and electronics, among other items. “I learned how to take ‘em apart the wrong way and put ‘em back together the wrong way,” Balk recalls.
Meanwhile, her dad insisted that if she wanted to get her driver’s license, she needed to learn how to fix a flat tire, change the oil and perform other basic maintenance. Balk, who “liked that stuff to being with,” didn’t hesitate to enroll in an auto shop class. She admits: “That’s probably how I graduated high school, honestly.”
Balk gives a lot of credit to her mom for instilling a strong work ethic. “She worked her butt off all the time to make sure my sister and I had what we wanted.” It was a two-way street, though. Balk, for example, was interested in sports, and her mom expected to see A’s and B’s in school if she wanted to participate – whether it was practice or a game. “That made me work hard for what I wanted.”
After graduating in 2004, Balk was a technician at a local Dodge dealership. When the dealership went through an ownership change, the new owners sent many of the employees packing. So, in 2006, Balk got a job at a NAPA Auto Parts store.
At the time, the job at NAPA was just that – a job. There were only two employees, so Balk worked the counter, made deliveries and did anything else that was needed. “It would get a little stressful when we were busy,” Balk recalls. “On the other side of it, it was really fun. Every day was different.”
Management Material
Balk joined Auto Value in 2010, establishing herself as a capable counter pro who connected with the local clientele. “I know the community,” she explains. “I’m involved with the people here. I know most of them from when I grew up as a kid here.”
In June 2019, Auto Value promoted her to store manager. Balk had been helping the previous manager with scheduling, paperwork and other duties, so the transition was fairly smooth. Still, it was a new role, and she leaned on Koxlien quite a bit in the beginning.
“Matt has been my go-to for everything,” Balk says. “Honestly, I was scared my first year as a manager. If I had a question, I would call him all the time, ‘How do I deal with this?’ That little bit of reassurance that I was on the right track really helped me get better. Sometimes you just need that person to tell you you’re on the right path. Any time I’ve had questions or concerns, he’s always helped me.”
Given “her personality and her standing in the community,” Koxlien says he didn’t have the slightest doubt that she would succeed as store manager.
“The interactions with her co-workers – many of whom are now her employees – are just as positive as the day I met her and I met them,” he says. “She builds a family-style environment. They move very quickly; they move from transaction to transaction. They’re always taking care of each other, and she sets the tone for the whole culture within the store.”
Balk tends to lead by example. She works the counter every day, alongside the other team members. She maintains her ASE P2 certification and encourages her employees to get certified, but she doesn’t push too hard, “because they’re all really good at what they do.”
In general, she tries not to be the manager who pushes too hard.
“It’s kind of like raising a kid,” Balk explains. “Sometimes you have to let a person fail a little bit on their first go-round. If a mistake happens, it can be a good thing because it’s a learning opportunity. Let’s learn from that mistake.”
For Balk, the awards and recognition have been gratifying, especially when she thinks back to that former manager who didn’t see a place for women on the parts counter. (She’s the type of person who works twice as hard when someone tells her she can’t do something.) Still, Balk gets just as much satisfaction from seeing her entire team excelling. “It’s satisfying when you see all the numbers at the end of the month,” she says. “There are a lot of ups to being a manager. You get recognition, but recognition also comes with a great team. That’s why I always say it’s not all me. We have a great team.”
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