A Plus Power Equipment - Leander
A Plus Power Equipment - Leander
By Mark Collins Friday, 17 October 2008
A Plus Outdoor Power Equipment might be the best small-engine repair shop you’ve never heard of.
“I hear it 10 times a day, ‘I’m so glad I found this place,’” co-owner Michelle Smith said. “We rely on word of mouth, and we take really good care of people so they keep coming back.”
Tucked off Ronald Reagan Boulevard on CR 180, the shop looks small, but is filled to capacity with equipment, parts and accessories. A Plus carries popular brands of lawnmowers, chainsaws and more and is authorized to repair more than 90 percent of what it sells.
“We can service pretty much any piece of outdoor power equipment you bring to us,” co-owner Lee Smith said. “And we don’t send anything off to be repaired somewhere else. Every piece of equipment stays right here, and we work on it ourselves.”
Lee and his brother, Mike, were both born in Williamson County and have more than 30 years of experience working with engines; Mike specializes in larger engines while Lee works best with small engines. The two brothers own the business with their wives, Michelle and Becky. The family has no intention of ever leaving the area.
“Any of our business, any services we need, we don’t do it online. We do it all local,” Lee said. “Money spent local stays local. We want to support local businesses.”
The couples started the business in 2004 under the name Lone Star Power Equipment, which they later changed to A Plus Outdoor Power Equipment when they incorporated early this year.
When the business first opened, it was one of the first small-engine shops in the area. Since then, A Plus has grown to serve customers from all over Williamson County and handles several large commercial accounts.
“We’ve hung in here tooth and nail,” Lee said. “But we’re still here, and we need to expand.”
In four years, the shop has grown so much that the Smiths can point at a line on the floor and say, ‘This is how big we used to be.’ A Plus has more than doubled in size to include a separate workshop from the retail area, and yet repair work is still spilling out all over the property. Future plans call for a new location on a major thoroughfare, but the Smiths are content to wait for the right opportunity.
“The funnest part of this job is meeting so many different people and getting to talk with them,” Lee said. “We get such a wide variety of people, and we try to build relationships with all of them. We want them to feel comfortable when they come in the store.”
Customer service
Not only does A Plus Outdoor Power Equipment offer more than 100 different brands and varieties of outdoor power equipment, the business will make sure you leave with the right equipment for the job. Co-owner Lee Smith will help shoppers pick out the right tool, take it out of the box, perform any necessary installations and fill it up with gas before showing the customer how to use it. A Plus also helps customers winterize their tools, performs blade and chain sharpening and will pick up and deliver for a small fee.
A Plus Outdoor Power Equipment, 450 CR 180 • 260-0023, Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. 8 a.m.-1 p.m.
