Walker Tire/Quick Nick’s Snappy Lube is a family-owned business that provides automotive products and services for customers vehicles including tire replacement, alignments, suspension work, check engine light diagnostics, engine work, oil changes, fluid exchanges, exhaust, all of your dealer recommended maintenance and much more!
Walker Tire was started in 1951 and just celebrated its 61st Anniversary. Quick Nick’s Snappy Lube was started in 2003 and just celebrated its 9th Anniversary. Nick Vuko Jr. (interviewed below) came back to Lincoln after receiving his mechanical engineering degree in 2003 and has been with the company ten years in July.
Who are the owners/important executives?
Nick Vuko Sr. is the owner and I am the Vice President. Mark McGinnis and Alex Kouma are our store manager’s downtown. Mark has been with us 25 years and Alex for four years. Al Rubesh is the manager of our Wahoo store and has been with us 33 years. Rob Barlow is our Truck Shop manager and has been with us 31 years. Mark Colborn is our Retread manager has been with us 12 years.
What do you think makes you different from other companies similar to yours?
We are a locally owned family business and we try to project this image in all of our locations. If you ever want to talk to an owner we are a phone call away. We want to project that family feeling with friendly technicians and clean facilities. We accommodate customers with children by providing play areas. We want to have a personal relationship with our customers and earning their trust is very important to us. We understand that taking your vehicle to be serviced can be scary if you don’t know anything about cars. The main difference between other competitors and Walker Tire is we do not try to sell the cheapest tire out there, we try to find the right tire for your vehicle. My father came from the rubber industry prior to purchasing Walker Tire and our employees are being trained through his knowledge. That knowledge allows us to find the right tire for each person that walks through the door. We are the only Nokian dealer in the state. Nokian has the only all season tire that combines the traction of a snow tire into an all season tire. We are the only tire dealer in Lincoln that offers free oil changes for the life of the Nokian tire.
What do you like about doing business in Lincoln?
I love Lincoln. I always enjoy going on vacations and seeing bigger cities but Lincoln is a great place to call home. It’s a great place to raise the family. You always hear about how nice the people are in Lincoln when visitors come to town for different events. We have so many customers that I enjoy talking to and learning about. Anyone who owns a small business knows there’s never enough time but I always make sure I find time to talk with our customers. I also think the business community is the right size where you get to know a lot of other people in different industries. There are a lot of people who do business in Lincoln that I’ve gotten to know over the years.
What kind of community organizations/groups are you involved with?
We are involved in BNI, Serra Club, LIBA, the Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau and I volunteer for the boy’s tennis team at Pius X as well. We also work with multiple fundraisers throughout the year.
What do you see happening with the business in the next five years?
I see us continuing to grow and capitalize on what we do well and continue to find ways for us to improve. I believe keeping our employees trained on all of automobile industry changes and finding ways to better take care of our customers will remain our top priorities.
What is the most unique or interesting thing about your business that most people don’t know?
The most unique thing is that we have been Lincolns tire specialists since 1951. We were the first company to bring the radial tire to Lincoln in 1958. We were also the first company to carry Bridgestone and Michelin in Lincoln and in 2002 the first Nokian dealer. We are not only the only Nokian dealer in Lincoln but in Nebraska! We also have a retread tire technician, Fay Kapke, who is the 2nd oldest tire technician in the WORLD! He has been retreading tires for 57 years!
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Thanks to everyone who has supported us since 1951 and we look forward to helping people take care of their vehicles in the future. GO HUSKERS!
More information about Walker Tire/Quick Nick’s Snappy Lube can be found on the web at www.walkertirequicknicks.com.