In 1986 Jim Brousseau opened his first Super Lube location on Pembina Highway. Like all new businesses, this start-up faced a crucial question. In a crowded marketplace where 90% of new businesses fail in the first year and 50% of the rest don’t make it to year five, if Super Lube was to be one of the survivors, what radical idea would set it apart?
35 years later, Super Lube has not only survived but thrived, expanding to 5 Winnipeg locations including 3 full-service auto centres offering Super Tune & Brake, Super Tire Express, and Super Transmission services, as well as a Super Shine Car Wash & Detail centre on Regent.
And the radical idea behind it all?
We make Car Care Easy so drivers like you can Drive it Forever.
The dream since the beginning has been to take a complicated and often intimidating customer experience and make it easier. At Super Lube, it is their passion to keep your car safely on the road and you in the driver’s seat as far into forever as possible. Setting the bar with customer service, their Super team of technicians and Red Seal mechanics all believe that car care should be easy! One of the things this means is that the extras shouldn’t cost extra.
It's why they decided early on, to fix flats for free – no strings attached, whether you’re a regular customer or not. Free tire rotations and winter tire installation (for most cars) are other ways they make things easy for anyone who rolls into their service bays.
But Easy Car Care means more than just free extras. It means a world-class 10-minute oil change, or your brakes done in an hour! It’s about having inventory ready on the shelves, so you can be back on the road before you’ve finished your coffee. They understand that time is often your most important commodity.
Jim’s business philosophy is quite simple.
“It’s really about making a connection with each person that walks in the door. When you come to Super Lube there is no such thing as strangers – only friends that we haven’t met.”
Out of appreciation for the many years of support in Winnipeg, Super Lube Auto Centres has connected with local charitable programs like Siloam Mission, Pink Caps for Breast Cancer, and The Christmas Cheer Board to help fellow Manitobans in need. It’s what friends do!
It was always part of Jim’s desire to keep the business local and family-operated and to see his grandchildren benefit from it one day. And that is precisely what has happened, as Jim, still operating as the CEO, has passed the day-to-day leadership to his granddaughter Jonnie Hendrickson, the company’s newly appointed President.
When asked about the long-term success of Super Lube, and what the future has to offer, Jonnie was quick to point out;
“Our customers are the reason we are where we are today – they trust us. And we appreciate that. Our Super team has earned that trust over the years by how they communicate with each customer and how they care for each car they work on. We love what we do!”
