Everyone has someone in their neighbourhood who is “that guy” the person you go to when you need help figuring something out. Whether your lawn mower isn’t working or you need to borrow a tool that no one else will have, that’s the guy that shops at Princess Auto. The Winnipeg-based tool and equipment retailer caters to the figure-it-outers who have the specialized tools in their garage to build and fix things to make them work.
“The guys who come into our stores are tradespeople, they’re doing heavy industrial work. They’re the ninjas of figuring out the mechanics of machines of all kinds. They’re replacing hydraulic hoses and building their own pressure washers that are powerful enough to clean a tractor,” says Heather Turnbull-Smith, the company’s senior vice-president of talent and corporate communications.
“Our customers are the people who work with their hands and figure stuff out. Our stores have more of an industrial feel and are built to feel comfortable for our hard-working customers that are coming in from industrial sites.”
Princess Auto has 54 stores across every province in the country, including three in Manitoba, three distribution centres, including one in Winnipeg, and a call centre.
It’s a point of corporate pride that its focus on internal growth paths for its people has led to many stories of long service among its 3,600 team members, more than 500 of which live in Manitoba.
One sales team member at its Panet Road location, Walter Storozuk, has been with Princess Auto for 64 years. He started working for the company when the Beatles were still called the Quarrymen.
One of the company’s eastern Canadian stores recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and more than half of its staff have been there since the first day it opened the doors.
Princess Auto continues to grow its stores and categories of product.
“We are in awe of the skill and imagination that our customers have and they always have new ideas for what we should carry.” says Turnbull-Smith. “It’s quite humbling when your customers send friends and family to us ‘because they will help you get what you need.’
