Girls Auto Clinic launches crowdfunding campaign to replicate strategy

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.

So Ms. Banks launched the month-long campaign to raise $100,000 on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo.com. Just one day into the campaign, she had reached about 34 percent of her goal with about 70 backers.

"Our first goal is to raise $100K to help us build the team we need to lead and execute our expansion efforts," the site states. "The flagship location in Philadelphia has been a huge success, and we have learned a lot from our first year and a half in business! We are ready to apply the knowledge we gained from our first location and use it to build an even larger, stronger repair center model that can be replicated nationwide."

The crowdfunding page said the campaign also will help "validate our business to potential investors and prove that Girls Auto Clinic has national audience and customer base."

Contributors of various denominations can earn rewards ranging from a #shecanic T-shirt for a $35 contribution to a car care workshop hosted by Ms. Banks for $10,000 or a keynote address by Ms. Banks for $20,000.