For 45 years, Al Shimizu’s business has depended on people driving their cars near or far with barely a second thought.
During two months of the COVID-19 stay-at-home order, Shimizu has scraped together work mostly from people not driving their cars: dead batteries, flat tires and stolen catalytic converters. “I guess the thieves were making the rounds. It only takes a minute to steal,” he said.
Sheltering in place has led to far fewer cars on the road, and that has meant far fewer cars pulling into Shimizu’s garage at Nal’s Auto Repair.
Shimizu, 74, launched his business in 1975 in Lincoln Park with his former boss, Nao Kasamoto — hence, “Nal’s.” They moved Nal’s to its current North Center home in 1982. Shimizu bought out his partner, who retired, in the 1990s.
Shimizu has weathered many storms, literally and figuratively, during more than four decades in the business.
Until COVID-19, most crippling had been the actual storms — the legendary Chicago blizzards that paralyze the city.
“Those big snowstorms, no one wants to move their car and you’ll have two, three, four weeks where nothing happens,” he said. “But this is a new one, where people are afraid to go out and do anything. But it always seems everything works out and we always seem to survive it.”
Business has been erratic during the pandemic, Shimizu said. The average number of cars pulling up to the garage has dropped from 12 or more per day to one or two. Some weeks have been surprisingly busy, though, usually after a burst of warmer weather.
Shimizu has kept all four of his mechanics on the payroll because he doesn’t want to lose them. Instead, he’s stopped paying himself.
“The boss always takes the hit first,” he said. “I don’t want to lose our good guys because they’re hard to replace. There are a lot of mechanics out there but they don’t all do a good job.”
Business was good enough before the pandemic that Shimizu was thinking of hiring one more mechanic. That plan is on hold.
Shimizu was disappointed not to get a loan when the first round of money was issued through the Paycheck Protection Program. Last week, however, he was told to expect more than $40,000.
“That was big,” he said.
He might even start paying himself, he said.
Shimizu and his team are at Nal’s for full workdays, even when there isn’t much work. They wear masks when customers come in, and try to keep 6 feet from each other. Before the stay-at-home order, lunch came from nearby fast-food restaurants. Now they make hot dogs, brats and hamburgers on a grill hauled in to economize.
The slowdown has allowed Shimizu and his team to tackle some long-term projects, such as restoring a 1969 Corvette for a woman who bought the car new with her late husband.
He figures business will pick up as soon as people revert to old driving habits. “All these cars are still out there, and when we break free of everything happening right now, we will probably get busy again,” he said.
The next-door business — a body shop, to whom Shimizu leases space — is hurting far more, he said. Keeping a car operable is still necessary for many people. Pulling a dent from a door has become a luxury.
Shmizu has considered retirement for a few years, and entertained different scenarios for making his exit. He suspects COVID-19 will affect his plans.
“If I can get through this virus thing, maybe I can walk away and take some more time off,” he said.
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing Chicago-area companies and workers to face harsh realities about their paychecks and their place in the local economy. The Tribune is reaching out to hear, and share, their stories.