Automotive business celebrates 10 years

On one of the oldest roads in America, Route 896, K&T Automotive sits at 1535 New London Road just north of the Mason-Dixon Line that separates Pennsylvania from Maryland and Delaware.

The very last automotive business before the Maryland and Delaware statelines, K&T Automotive recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary after first opening for business back in October 2011.

K&T Automotive is owned by two lifelong friends, Ken Gent and Tim Peterson.

And while at least onethird of businesses closed forever during the 2020 shutdown and stay-at-home orders in Pennsylvania last spring, K&T survived.

Not all the small businesses leasing space at the London Britain shopping center were as lucky. However, when a neighboring business left that space, Gent and Peterson took that as an opportunity to expand.

In fact, one trend that is commonplace for many of the small businesses in Chester County that survived the pandemic shutdown is that they opted to expand when an opportunity knocked.

For the last 10 years, K&T Automotive has worked with customers living on the most southeastern edge of Pennsylvania, near the historic Wedge between Maryland and Delaware. The Landenberg business is between Good Hope and Flint Hill roads and just south of Kemblesville.

“They are an old-school garage with the latest technology, which is hard to find today,” said Andrew Reynolds, a long-time customer who praised K&T Automotive’s professionalism, punctuality, quality and value.

“They are nice people who also happen to be ‘car guys,’” Reynolds added.

K&T Automotive’s business card features the American flag; printed in color, red, white and blue.

Owners Gent and Peterson together share 35 years experience as automotive technicians.

Both men graduated from Avon Grove High School. They grew up tinkering with automobiles and bicycles and soon began working at local shops learning the trade of mechanics.

The business partners agreed that much has changed since the 1980s with today’s cars. Even the way people turn cars on today has changed. A new car requires a key fob, which runs on a battery, for instance.

“We really are technicians,” Gent said, noting he and Peterson have grown up in this business and adapted accordingly. “We aren’t just mechanics anymore. We have scanned tools. There’s a lot of moving technical parts.”

During the last decade, the business has seen many Hondas and Toyotas and noted that more and more Teslas are showing up.

Gent said that many people who would normally have traded in their current car for a new model this year are instead spending money on repairs.

That’s because, like much of the goods around the world in high demand, there’s a shortage of new cars across the country, stemming from the chip shortage now featured in vehicles to make them digitalized.

Gent and Peterson said there is a shortage in automotive parts as well including brake pads and brake rotors. Sometimes they have to call three different vendors to complete any job for a customer.

Prior to the pandemic shutdown of 2020, it was cheaper to replace brakes rather than repair them. Not anymore, and even if they are willing to pay more for the part, such items are on back-order not only at mechanic shops around Chester County but also at automotive shops across America.

Yet with challenge, comes opportunity.

To now repair parts that are now back-ordered across the global market supply chain due to ongoing shortages, “we just bought a brake blade so that we don’t miss out on taking care of a customer the way they need to be taken care of today,” Gent said.

Of the pandemic shutdown, Peterson said, “It was scary for a little bit.”

“We were an essential business,” Gent added, “but there weren’t any cars on the road.”

Thanks to the Paycheck Protection Program loan, K&T Automotive could bring back all of their employees by April 2013. The shutdown began on March 13, 2020, in Pennsylvania.

“We take pride in our guys and make sure their families survive,” Gent said. There are seven total employees at K&T Automotive with five mechanics total.

Both Gent and Peterson said that customers have been very understanding with the minor price increases due to inflation.

Besides state inspections and emissions and brake repairs and oil changes, the business operates a 24-hour towing service. Clients include the Pennsylvania State Police and several national insurance agencies.

Of the greatest lesson he’s learned as an entrepreneur, Gent answered: “Be patient with your employees.”

Further, “It’s not as easy as everyone thinks. If it were, everyone would be doing it,” Gent said of running a business.

Looking back at 2020, Peterson reflected he was glad that the ‘unprecedented’ year was over.

“I realized that if you take care of your customers, they are going to take care of you, and that’s what happened to us,” Gent said. “We had lots of people step up and say they would help us if we needed help.”

This also made Gent reflect on the promise he made when K&T Automotive first opened in Southeastern Pennsylvania a decade ago.

“When we opened these doors, we said we were going to take care of this community and they would take care of us,” Gent said.

And the community has done just that, Peterson added. “They have.”

K&T Automotive recently celebrated its 10th anniversary in business in London Britain.