Pete Popoe and His Auto Ace Staff Aim to Please at Both Locations
Finding an automobile-maintenance shop that is trustworthy and consistent is one of those things in life that is difficult to do, but, once it’s done, it feels like a major victory. In the Twin Ports, one of the most well-regarded auto shops is Auto Ace Express Lube, which has been in business in Duluth for a quarter-century and just opened a Superior location in 2023.
Auto Ace, which had been owned and operated by members of the Amatuzio family (well-known for the Amsoil company) for years until its recent sale, is now in the hands of one Pete Popoe, who has been with the business almost as long as it’s been in operation.
“Originally, I had started back in 1999 at the Kenwood location,” Popoe said. “At that point, it was owned by Carol Amatuzio and was going through a lot of name changes. And then in 2001, her son Alan bought it from her and established Auto Ace.”
After a short, unsatisfying detour into selling insurance behind a desk, Popoe returned as the assistant manager and then took on the role of manager the year after. He’s been in that position ever since – although he’s now added “owner” to his list of accomplishments. Twenty-five years is a long time, but Popoe clearly loves what he does.
“You know, it’s about treating your car right and getting away from all the pushy sales,” Popoe said. “We dropped commissions so no one was in your face, trying to upsell you to make a buck. My theory, when I took over managing, was to be honest. And I still tell my techs today that you treat every car like your grandmother drove it in.”
Auto Ace handles simple services like oil changes and wiper blade replacements up to more complicated ones like brake repairs and transmission jobs, but Popoe’s secret seems to be that he goes the extra mile to make sure a customer’s car leaves the shop in great shape.
“We still wash the windshield, wash the back window,” he said. “When it’s dry outside, we’ll just go ahead and vacuum your car. And I don’t think there’s another quick-lube shop in the area that does either one of those things. And, you know, we always have hot coffee going. You don’t have to stay in your car.”
Popoe said those little extra touches help to make a customer’s experience better. “I remember going to the gas station as a kid, and they did all this stuff,” he recalled. “Y’know, they’re pulling up your car and giving your kid a sucker and cleaning your windows and checking your oil. And I thought that was just the coolest thing. I wanted to have something similar to that. And that’s what we thrive on – just doing the things that other people don’t do.”
And now, after 25 years as a manager setting a specific tone, Popoe owns Auto Ace and is already expanding.
“I bought the company January 1st of this year and nothing is going to change, because that’s the way I set the company up and the way that I built it to run and to actually turn it into what we have now, which is that now we have our original quick lube up in Kenwood, and we’ve opened the other one in Superior,” he said.
Asked why he thinks that he’s been able to make a career out of managing what was for so long Alan Amatuzio’s business, Popoe provides a glimpse at the key to his whole operation: just be a decent person. “I was honest,” he said. “I mean, Amatuzio – he owns Amsoil, but I didn’t talk to him like a corporate guy. I talked to him like a normal guy. And that’s how I talked to my customers, too. Everybody that comes in is a person, you know? And I don’t treat anybody different. You’re coming into my shop for one reason, and I’m going to take care of you the same as I’m taking care of another person. It’s really how you treat people.”
This extends to his relationships with his 24 employees, 11 of whom are in Kenwood and the rest at the new location in Superior, which was Pete’s Tower Quick Lube before the Amatuzios purchased it and transformed it into the second Auto Ace just before selling to Popoe.
“It just so happened that when we were going to originally talk about me buying Kenwood is when this one came up in Superior,” Popoe recalled.
But after a couple years, Amatuzio decided he wanted to sell the businesses. “I think he was looking to lighten his load,” Popoe said.
“I’m 25 years [older] – I’m looking at not slowing down, necessarily, but at decluttering my life,” Alan Amatuzio said. Having spent those years refining the Auto Ace experience and shepherding its growth in the new Superior location, he felt confident that Popoe could handle things. “The store’s in good hands. The customers are in good hands with Pete and the team. The business won’t miss a beat. I want him to be successful. His success is important to me.”
“In the early days,” Amatuzio said, “Pete didn’t come to the team with a lot of business acumen. But he and I worked together for years and developed a strategy of how to serve customers and how to provide products and how to grow the business. There’s a lot of suspicion with auto repair, and we wanted to take away that concern for customers. You trust your doctor, you trust your dentist, and you want to trust the people who are working on your car.”
One of those trusting customers, Tina Van Aernum, said she’s come to rely on the Kenwood Auto Ace location for a number of reasons.
“For years, Auto Ace has exceeded my expectations with outstanding service on my vehicles, honest pricing and fast, reliable work,” Van Aernum said. “[They] truly go above and beyond the service I pay for every time. As a single female, they have always made me feel respected, comfortable and confident that I can trust their recommendations. Even when I’ve price- or service-shopped elsewhere, Auto Ace always offers the best deals and gets the work done the quickest. From thoughtful extras like vacuuming my car during an oil change to giving me a ride to work, their care and reliability are unmatched. That’s why I always refer all of my clients and friends to Auto Ace. I wouldn’t take my vehicles anywhere else.”
As for the future of the two shops, Popoe said he’s currently focused on making sure he’s got a handle on owning and running two places at once, but that he’s allowing himself room to dream. “Right now,” he explained, “I’m trying to get a hold of everything and make sure everything’s going the right way. But, as far as expanding – yeah, I would like to expand, but where to?”
All in all, Popoe is mainly just enjoying being able to do business in Superior, where he grew up. “Being open in Superior is a lot more to me than just having another location,” he said. “I was born in Billings Park. I’ve been a Superior person my whole life. I have a lot of classmates that come in to have work done, and to know that you have that many people who trust you and support you is a good thing.”
Tony Bennett is a freelance writer based in Duluth.
