Sumblin’s Automotive just keeps running

March 01--EDITORS NOTE -- This is the eighth in a series of stories profiling some local businesses that have endured the Test of Time and have been part of our community for decades.

FORT WALTON BEACH -- At 24 years old and only a few years under his belt as a professional mechanic, Rick Sumblin decided to step out on his own and opened Sumblin's Automotive.

While other auto repair and service companies have come and gone over the years, Sumblin's Automotive has stood the test of time and will celebrate its 40th anniversary this week.

"I've been here ever since, (in the) same place," Sumblin said of his location on Rickey Avenue in Ocean City. "I scraped up enough money to build a little 1,600-square-foot building and opened it by myself. I was the only guy here for probably a couple of years.

"Then we started getting busy and the next thing I know I'm hiring people," he added. "Then the next thing I know I'm adding on."

Sumblin got an early start in the auto repair business. While his high school classmates attended then Okaloosa-Walton Junior College, Sumblin went off to the Nashville Auto-Diesel College.

He took classes from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and was able to graduate in one year.

Over the years, Sumblin has expanded his business. The repair shop now occupies roughly 8,500 square feet, with separate areas for body work, painting and other repairs.

The business has grown over the years, but for Sumblin it has been more about quality than quantity.

Sumblin's Automotive used to be on the list of preferred repair shops for some of the insurance companies around town, but Sumblin stopped doing that because the companies were concerned about having the work finished as cheaply as possible.

Sumblin has five employees, about the same number he has had for years.

"What happens when have too many people, you get spread out too thin," Sumblin said. "We believe in quality work and we guarantee stuff and we try to be honest with folks. If you spread out too far, that's when you get problems."

Sumblin said his customers appreciate his commitment to quality, even though it sometimes makes his prices higher. Not only does he have customers who have been coming to his shop for more than 30 years, some of the children and grandchildren of his customers have become regulars.

And business is as brisk as ever.

"We've been covered up," Sumblin said. "I thought it was going to be a slow winter due to the fact of the recession. These guys have been slammed. We're slammed right now. We've got a whole bunch sitting there to do."

___

(c)2014 the Northwest Florida Daily News (Fort Walton Beach, Fla.)

Visit the Northwest Florida Daily News (Fort Walton Beach, Fla.) at www.nwfdailynews.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services