Fuerst Automotive recently opened a second location in Kent. A family-run business, the shop’s goal is to provide honest and transparent service to its customers, especially Kent State students.

The new location opened at 1005 W. Main St. on Nov. 4, run by siblings Kayla Burris and Mitch Stout. The original location, which has remained open for over 40 years in Broadview Heights, is run by a third sibling, Amber Stout-Nebozuk. The parents of the family help run both locations.

Robert Stout, the father, said he has been working on cars for 45 years, and when he got the itch to start his own business, that’s when Fuerst Automotive was born.

He said he thought about retiring at one point and selling the shop, but his daughters approached him with a different idea.

“Amber and I, through our lives, worked three or four jobs together,” said Burris. “We worked really well together … she and I had always wanted to open our own business.”

While talking to an entrepreneur friend, they realized they didn’t need to start a new business to be business owners. She encouraged them to take over the auto shop business.

“She’s like, ‘Have you guys ever considered that?’” Burris said. “We’re like, ‘No, we can’t run that, we’re girls.’ And then afterward, we were like, ‘No, we totally could, and we should. We’d be silly not to.’”

During the pandemic, while everything was changing, the sisters also saw the value in working at the shop.

“It was always considered an essential business,” said Burris. “It was always open, and they got to keep working. For [Amber] and I, considering our futures with children and whatnot, it’s more stability for us and we saw that it could provide a great life for us, … and also carrying out the family legacy.”

When Robert Stout found out his daughters wanted to take over the business, he said he was shocked. He then started thinking about ways to expand.

After purchasing the Kent shop, which was previously AWTI Transmission, Robert Stout said Burris became office manager and began to run that location with her brother.

“Amber and I wanted to make females more comfortable coming in,” Burris said. “It can be intimidating. If it’s a guy-run world and you feel like they’re taking advantage of you, or telling you ‘This is wrong, this is wrong,’ and you’re like ‘Is it? I don’t know.’ You just hear horror stories.”

She said her goal was to change that, making sure everybody felt welcome at their shop.

“We figured that could also boil down to college students, because been there, done that,” Burris said.

Run on honesty and transparency, Robert Stout said everything is digital at the shop.

“We do complete vehicle inspections we don’t charge for,” he said. “We tell them what’s wrong with the car, we show them evidence of what’s wrong for the transparency part of it and then prioritize what’s important and what’s not.”

Using a color-coding system, customers can see exactly what they need to know about their car, Burris said. Red means there’s an issue that should be fixed as soon as possible, yellow means they can keep an eye on it for the future and green means nothing is wrong.

“Everything you do in life has to be fair to all concerned,” Robert Stout said. “Not yourself, fair to everybody, … and that’s the way we run our business. We make it fair for us, and we make it fair for our clients.”

The shop’s services include everything from flat repairs to replacing engines, Robert Stout said. They also sell tires, are a Bridgestone-Firestone dealer, do diagnostics, rebuild transmissions, do flat repairs and oil changes, and are working to have an e-check station, which is already running at the Broadview Heights location.

Robert Stout said, over time, he has grown close to many of his customers, some being third-generation clients.

“I’ve been to weddings, I’ve been to funerals, I’ve been to birthday parties,” he said. “These are my customers inviting me to this kind of stuff. It’s really cool.”

As the family works to provide their best services, Robert Stout said he is motivated by the fact that he is helping his community.

“I’ve always told my kids, when you take from the community, give back to the community,” he said. “We have to give back … that’s my heart … to give back.”

Fuerst Automotive’s Kent location is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every weekday. A ribbon cutting will take place Dec. 14 at noon.

Lauren Cohen is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].