From gas engines to search engines

It’s a classic Corpus Christi success story: a decades-old small business passed from one generation to the next, supported by a legion of loyal customers and their children. The twist? Eighty-nine-year-old Willie Loa still comes into Loa’s Tires and Auto Supply every day, discussing Google PageRank and Facebook marketing with his daughter, Martha Gomez.
“He’s not into Google or the Internet,” said Gomez, who manages day-to-day operations. “At first, he had a hard time understanding how people use Google to find us. I’ve showed him with my cellphone how people type in ‘used tires’ or ‘front-end alignment,’ and all the businesses pop up. ‘We don’t want to be down here, we want to be a little higher.’ He’s learning about that.”
Loa grew up on a farm in Victoria and was drafted into the Army before his 18th birthday. He served in World War II, returned to Corpus Christi for a stint at the Sinclair refinery and eventually started a tire and auto parts store in 1966. The small two-bay workshop played second to the retail parts business until a large auto parts chain opened up down the street. Loa took a gamble, moved to an eight-bay garage and shifted his main focus to auto repair almost overnight.
“Dad would pick us up after school, we’d watch ‘Gilligan’s Island’ for 30 minutes and then he'd pick us up to go to work because he didn’t want us to be lazy,” Gomez said. “We’d do our homework there. He raised all six of us through the business, and he’s always been a workaholic.”
What began as filing and alphabetizing in an era without computers evolved into catalog parts sales for Gomez, who has worked at Loa’s since she can remember.
“Time just goes by, and you don’t realize you’re in the next chapter,” Gomez said. “I don’t like to sell, but I’ve become a salesperson. When customers aren’t sure what they want, you have to be there to help them figure it out.”
Her passion, it turns out, is on the marketing and public relations side. In the coming year, Gomez plans to shift away from daily operational responsibilities and focus on outreach that her customers can get excited about.
“I’m tired of women getting their eyes poked at garages,” Gomez said. “In the near future, we’re going to host a ladies’ night, serve sparkling grape juice, turn everything pink and teach the ladies how to change a tire. I love to educate people and get them to know what to ask when they're at a garage.” 
Loa instilled the importance of one-to-one customer service early on, Gomez said. In an industry in which so many customers feel they have been taken advantage of by other shops, Loa’s approach focuses on customer education.
“You can’t just show customers an estimate,” Gomez said. “You have to show them how things work. A tune-up used to be so simple. You used to have room to get in under the hood and work. Now, the engine is mounted sideways, and it’s all cramped up. There are so many sensors, and they control everything. We try to show customers how the systems interact.”
As Corpus Christi grows and the impact of online reviews soars, Gomez notes a changing client base. Her clients are younger and more diverse. A business that once served its immediate neighborhood, Loa's Tire & Auto Supply now attracts customers from as far away as Ingleside and Rockport. Gomez credits the Internet, and though Loa himself is coming around to modern marketing methods, he’s still sticking to the staples.
“We’re into email, Facebook and social media,” Gomez said. “He wants to put ads in the phonebook. We did have a customer yesterday who found us in the phonebook and called us. He’s still sharp.”
Loa's Tire & Auto Supply at 4015 Ayers St. in Corpus Christ can be reached at (361) 852-7311.