As long as mistakes don’t become habits, my employees don’t have to worry about being in trouble.

Highway Auto Parts and convert- ing the operation to wireless, one of the first decisions Lewicki made as an owner was to link his inven- tory with his father’s. “That expanded our opportunity to sell parts right away before we had built our inventory,” he explains. “That has been really nice, and it definitely helped us get started.” Despite that connection, young Lewicki is deliberately taking his business in a different direction from his father’s. Strongly influ- enced by his studies of Tibetan Buddhism, his concentration in

college, Lewicki brings to the auto recycling business a refreshing, more laid-back approach. “My dad runs his business based on older vehicles, mainly retail with one of his yards now self-serve,” Lewicki notes. “His business operates on insane mar- gins, and so he’s pretty strict and works his employ- ees hard.”

A Fresh Approach

In contrast, the younger Lewicki based his business plan on wholesaling late-model vehicle parts and slow- ing down the pace of the work. “I wanted less stress and more fun for myself and my employees. Work hard, but have time to enjoy life is more my mana- gerial style.” So how’s that working out? It’s now three years since Lewicki faced those four lonely vehicles at his yard, and Highway Auto now processes 600 vehicles a year. As planned, the business focuses on late-model vehicles, primarily selling whole- sale. The operation has grown to 18 employees, including four of Don and Hanks’ children, six sales- people, a full-time buyer, and Lewicki’s facility already has achieved the ARA Gold Seal and CAR certifications.

“I’m pretty happy with where we are,” Lewicki admits. “We knew where we wanted to go and how to get there, planned out the

September-October 2015 | Automotive Recycling 67

changes needed to do it, and we have been reward- ed with steady, manageable growth.”

Lessons Learned In this exclusive interview with Automotive Recycling,

Lewicki shares some of the lessons he has learned along the way and describes some of the best prac- tices he has adopted in his business. 1. Diversify the business. Highway Auto Parts is located in the Detroit metro area, which has allowed Lewicki to purchase new product from Chrysler and Ford. He also buys OEM GM parts at wholesale through Rydell Chevrolet, Evansdale, Iowa, the fifth- largest parts distributor nationwide among General Motors dealerships.

This strategy has benefitted Lewicki’s operation in multiple ways. “We have a lot of new parts that we can