NEW LENOX, Ill., Nov. 9, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Automotive Technology Solutions, LLC (ATS) of Chicago will open the first of 59 Auto-Labs in the Chicago area with Grand Opening Ceremonies, 11 a.m., Friday, Nov. 11 at 1500 W. Lincoln Highway, New Lenox.
New Lenox Mayor Michael Smith and Gary Tokarski, ATS president, will join other dignitaries to officially open Auto-Lab, a Plymouth, MI-based chain of vehicle service centers featuring the latest in diagnostic equipment. Also present will be Steve Spratt of Homewood, IL, president of the new facility, and Jim Fastabend of Schereville, IL, general manager.
The New Lenox Auto-Lab, located adjacent to Kmart, will offer customers seven service bays and six employees, including three fully certified vehicle service technicians. The store will be open Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
"We offer consumers the latest in automotive service technology, to give them a technically driven assessment of their vehicles' service needs," Spratt said. "We offer a 12-month or 12,000 mile warranty on their service.
"Auto-Lab provides complete, professional, technologically proficient and superior service; in other words, the standard of auto care Chicago area drivers will be expecting and requiring for years to come," Fastabend said. "Today's domestic and foreign automobiles contain 12 or more computer systems that monitor or control virtually every function within the vehicle, from fuel delivery and steering to engine cooling and theft prevention."
Tokarski, a former prep football star at Homewood-Flossmoor High School on Chicago's Southside and a former running back at University of Miami, said ATS plans to open 59 units in the Chicago area over the next ten years. Tokarski previously served in marketing for Anheuser Busch, Procter & Gamble and SBC Communications. Spratt is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, and previously served as president of a Chicago Trading Company; and he is a licensed broker. Fastabend has 20 years of automotive service experience with Montgomery Ward, Firestone and Goodyear.
Auto-Lab was founded in 1988 and acquired by Auto-Lab Franchise Management Corporation in 2004. There are currently 24 Auto-Labs in Michigan. Additional information is available www.autolabusa.com.