UPPER DARBY, Pa. — Girls Auto Clinic Repair Center in Upper Darby has launched a crowdfunding campaign to replicate its distinct business model — an auto repair shop with female mechanics and a "while-u-wait" nail salon designed to draw in female clientele.
For the past few years owner Patrice Banks, a professional vehicle service technician, has been on a mission to bring a woman's touch to the man's world of auto mechanics.
She has conducted car care clinics for women, wearing her signature red stilettos while demonstrating how to check oil levels and change tires, all in an effort to empower women intimidated by auto repair and maintenance.
In addition, she has published a car maintenance handbook entitled "Girls Auto Clinic Glove Box Guide," given speeches and written educational blogs for her Girls Auto Clinic website and her Facebook page.
All these activities have generated media publicity in the Philadelphia market and around the country. (She even made an appearance in a recent Lean Cuisine commercial.)
After she opened her auto repair shop in late 2016, she said she has received numerous inquiries about when she could open a similar female-centric shop in other markets.