Mickey's: House Calls For Seniors During Coronavirus
JOLIET, IL — One of the Joliet area's locally owned auto repair shops is making special accommodations for senior citizens amid the new coronavirus outbreak. Mickey's Tire & Service Center, 112 N. Larkin Ave., will come out to your house to bring your vehicle back to its auto shop for any repairs and maintenance during the ongoing health situation.
"We pick it up and bring it back to them," owner Mike Mikuska told Joliet Patch last week.
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The same offer is being extended for customers in the Romeoville and Bolingbrook area. Mickey's operates a second shop at 49 West Normantown Road in Romeoville.
Mikuska told Joliet Patch his auto repair shop is going the extra mile to make sure all vehicles being repaired at his two service shops are undergoing a thorough deep cleaning during the ongoing international health crisis.
He and his crews are sanitizing all vehicles before work begins and after they're finished, he said.
Mickey's uses isopropyl alcohol to sanitize the vehicles being repaired in the shop. "It kills the coronavirus, so that's what we use to disinfect," Mikuska told Joliet Patch.
As another incentive for customers, Goodyear is now offering credit for 12 months, same as cash, with no interest payments, as long as the bill is paid within a year, Mikuska noted.
While his business accepts walk-ins, Mikuska encourages people to call ahead to set up an appointment.
That way, he said he can take measures to make sure there are not too many customers sitting in the waiting area at the same time, during the pandemic.
"We've seen fewer customers, but we've been fortunate that we're just as busy," he said. "I've never laid anyone off for any reason. The average time that my employees have been with me is 23 years."
Mickey's sent out 1,500 postcards to its loyal customers in recent weeks, "to let them know we're here if they need us. That's why we're staying open is to take care of our customers. Our motto is, 'We keep you going.'"
Mickey's stays open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Both locations are closed weekends. The Joliet store phone is 815-744-0600. The Romeoville store is 815-886-0300. The website for Mickey's is here.
These are challenging times for many Joliet area small businesses, Mikuska acknowledged, but he said it's important that people who are in need of an auto repair to get it done sooner than later.
Some distributors are now having a tough time finding auto parts for his store amid the coronavirus. Some assembly plants have had to change their production to make ventilators while others have put their employees on furloughs, he said.
"Parts availability is becoming difficult," Mikuska said. "If you have an issue with a car, now is the time to address it before there's a part availability issue. I would recommend it because of not knowing what the future is going to bring."
Mickey's is a full-service auto repair shop. It's right across the street from Joliet's vacant Kmart property near Larkin and West Jefferson Street.
"We do everything, and our entire staff is master certified," he said. "Automotive repair is our specialty and of course, we sell tires as well."
The auto shop owner also said, "first-responders or hospitals, we have special considerations for them, and we appreciate them putting themselves in the firing line."
Mickey's is one of the latest small businesses to fill out Joliet Patch's simple online survey to let everyone know whether they are open and current hours of operations during the coronavirus outbreak.
Around 115 Joliet businesses have been added to Patch's list so far. If you want to add your small local business to Joliet Patch's list of open and closed businesses, you can do so here.
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This article originally appeared on the Joliet Patch
