DIXON — When customers come into an auto parts store on a quest to find that certain item they need, it helps to deal with someone who knows what makes an engine tick — and what will stop that ticking.

Meet Marc Blanc and Becka Martin, a pair of parts people at Dixon’s newest auto parts store who bring decades of experience behind the counter at Carquest Auto Parts.

Blanc, president of Schulz/Carquest of Monroe, Wisc., is a third-generation auto parts businessman, and Martin, the store manager, has nearly 30 years in auto parts under her belt.

Carquest opened in February 2023 on North Galena Avenue, its brand of service and supplies to the local auto parts scene. What Blanc hopes will set his store apart is an emphasis on experience, a strong work ethic, a commitment to the community, and a focus on his family’s legacy.

Blanc said he saw Dixon as a good fit for the Carquest name, after already serving customers with his other locations, in Illinois and Wisconsin.

“We looked at it as a great community,” Blanc said. “Our Carquest brand of parts wasn’t represented here. It seemed like a good opportunity to expand. It was definitely our own personal effort with no incentives or anything, and we just wanted to help the community and other customers — and the farmers are another big part of our customer base. We have the right building with the right location and put it together with the right people.”

Blanc “grew up behind the parts counter,” he said, of his grandfather’s business, Schulz Machine Shop in Monroe, which is still in business today. Royce Schulz started the family business in 1953 when he relocated across state lines to Monroe after living in Lena, where he worked as a salesman and mechanic for the town’s Kaiser-Fraizer auto dealer. Marc’s mother, LaVonne Kilcoyne, took over the business in 1979 and expanded to Janesville. Blanc took over in 2011 and oversaw expansion of the business to include the Illinois stores: Freeport in 2017, and Dixon and Mendota both in 2023.

He said those early lessons from his grandfather extended beyond the shop floor, shaping both his approach to the business and his outlook on customer service.

“The history is definitely part of that success, having been around for a long time,” Blanc said. “My grandfather, he wanted to do the job right for someone or not do it. We take that same attitude toward business, where we’re going to have a nice looking store, have good people, have a good inventory and have good service, or we’re not going to do it. I’ve always applied that same thing: Let’s do it right, or not do this.”

Martin, who was born and raised in Washington state, was hired in June and brings 28 years in the auto parts industry to the store. Like Blanc, she also had help and inspiration from her grandfather in fostering a love of automobiles and a strong work ethic. Fred Keller was a dealership mechanic for many years, and Martin recalls a day when she helped her grandfather when he couldn’t reach the spark plugs on a 1978 Chevrolet truck he was working on.

“After that, I knew what I wanted to do after college,” she said.

With her grandfather’s encouragement, she developed practical skills that shaped her interest in automotive work.

“That’s where I started working on cars,” Martin said. “He was of the opinion that women were treated very poorly at shops and were taken advantage of, and he did not want any of the girls in his family to be taken advantage of. He showed us how to fix our own stuff, and to look and verify whether stuff was being broken.”

Whether it’s a quart of oil, a can of wax, or an engine part, Blanc wants to have good people at who can help them. The parts counter counts for a lot he said; it’s where connections are made and customer relations formed.

“The difference really is the parts counter,” Blanc said.

“Every year there’s an explosion of more and more parts available for more years, makes and models of cars,” Blanc said. “There’s a lot on the technical side that goes into getting the correct part, and we’re able to provide that service to the customer. It’s really being at the counter and the face-to-face interaction, providing a level of expertise on providing the right part the first time.”

“We can get items from a lot of different places and put in what we think can sell, rather than having it cookie-cutter,” Martin said. “It’s tailored more toward the area than at most places. There’s a lot of work in knowing your neighbors, knowing what vehicles are in town. Some companies just kind of do a national average of what sells, and that’s what the stores get.”

Not as many people work on their own cars anymore, so they’re looking for a good local person to help them do it. Blanc said that shift has only made the role of the parts counter even more important, since customers often rely on the store’s staff to guide them toward trusted repair options as well as the right parts.

The personal relationships built there echo the same principles of service his grandfather emphasized when starting the family business.

“I’ve found that people who have been in the industry for a long time, like Becka, stay in the industry because it’s a good, solid business,” Blanc said. “I love the relationships with our customers, and the relationships with the other independent business owners doing auto repair. We’re a good supplier to dealerships and bigger chain groups for their repair shops, too, but our best, close relationships are with the independent repair shops.”

Blanc is also someone who believe that if a community supports a business, the business should support the community. Carquest has national promotions that help those in need, and the store also has supported community organizations such as Al Morrison Baseball and the local Cub Scouts. In June state Rep. Bradley Fritts, presented the business with his monthly Local Business Highlight award for its contributions to the community.

“They pride themselves on providing excellent service to uphold their family legacy and help the community,” Fritts said at the time. “At a time when many large corporations focus on profit over customer satisfaction, Carquest is a great example of how business should be done.”

When Blanc bought the building, he retained its longtime designation as the can collection spot for Pack 85 from the building’s previous owner.

Martin also is looking into having a Halloween-related event at the store, she said.

“When you have a smaller, family-owned business, you can do more for your communities because you can choose to do that,” Martin said. “It’s part of being human.”

Corporate promotions include October’s Brakes for Breasts, with proceeds from brake pads and rotors supporting breast cancer research; and June’s partnership with Hire Heroes USA, where sales total round-ups to the nearest dollar support the organizations mission to help veterans better transition into jobs in civilian life.

Rooted in family values and a tradition of service, Blanc and Martin see their role as more than running a store – it’s supporting the customers who keep their store running like a finely tuned engine.

“I like the downtown area, the historic Ronald Reagan places are very touching to me, and the Post House is gorgeous,” Blanc said. “Our customer base is really great with some really good car dealerships and independent repair shops. It reminds me of Monroe somewhat. It’s a nice, friendly small town.”

Carquest Auto Parts, 975 North Galena Ave. in Dixon, is open from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Find it on Facebook, go to carquest.com/locations/il/dixon/15948 or call 815-677-9667 for more information.