VIP Tires & Service recently had its official grand opening celebration with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, May 15, at its new Framingham, Massachusetts, auto store located at 752 Worcester Road (Rt. 9 East). Joining VIP at the event and ribbon cutting was City of Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer.
At the event, in addition to festivities and food, VIP launched an initiative near and dear to the company called “Oil Changes for Education.” From May 15 until the end of July, VIP is offering $10 oil changes to all customers at its new Framingham store with 100% of the proceeds donated directly to Framingham public schools.
“When we open a retail location in a new community, we want to become an active participant there,” said Tim Winkeler, president and COO, VIP Tires & Service. “Connecting to the local community is a big part of our company culture.
“We’ve offered ‘Oil Changes for Education’ in other markets where we have stores to great success and can’t wait to get it started in Framingham and see how much we can raise for the local schools. A program like this is a win-win for everyone because auto companies today don’t offer $10 oil changes anymore, and 100% of the proceeds will benefit so many children in Framingham.”
The VIP Framingham store opened in mid-April and is the company’s 59th location in New England and the fourth in the Bay State. VIP now has 19 store locations in New Hampshire, four in Massachusetts, one in Vermont and 35 in Maine.
Creating a Customer-Friendly Space
VIP began remodeling its new 5,000-square-foot Framingham store location in early April in order to be ready for the grand opening celebration. The new store location features six service bays and increased on-site tire storage space. VIP has space for 1,500 tires, a 650% increase from the previous company. “With more tire storage, we can offer an array of manufacturer options and different price points so that customers can find the right tires for them,” said Winkeler. “And, with that amount of selection, we also hope to reduce wait times for our customers.”
Customers also will enjoy the following amenities at the new VIP Framingham store:
• Laptop bar featuring multiple seats with individual plug-ins;
• New beverage station;
• Remodeled customer bathrooms;
• Remodeled showroom and customer service counters;
• Tablet use by service advisers and technicians for more efficient customer service; and
• More technicians to meet the location’s service demands.
“We are very customer-focused, and we want to make sure everyone who turns to VIP for their auto care needs has an outstanding in-store experience,” said Winkeler. “We hope the community will come out to celebrate with us and we look forward to getting to know all of our customers in Framingham just a little bit better.”
