
Maidens Family Auto Care in Barrie, Ontario, is the 2024 winner of the Shop of the Year Award
In today’s world, where local businesses can be the heart of a community, those that embrace their neighbourhood make a lasting impact. Family-run shops with deep roots and a genuine commitment to people set a standard that goes beyond transactions — they create places where customers feel valued and supported.
This sense of purpose defines Maidens Family Auto Care in Barrie, Ontario, owned by Craig and Heather Maidens. More than a trusted destination for auto repairs, their shop is a testament to the strength of family values, customer dedication and community involvement. Through outreach, sponsorships and a warm, personal approach, Craig and Heather have built a business that’s as much about connecting with people as it is about keeping cars on the road.
And that’s why they’re the deserving winner of the 2024 Shop of the Year Award, sponsored by Milwaukee Tool.
The Maidens have built a thriving business by fostering deep connections with their community and treating every customer like family. Indeed, making sure anyone who walks through their doors or lives in their community is getting as much help as they can is the priority.
“Helping people out is the big thing for us,” Craig said.
The Maidens’ approach to running their business is rooted in their personal experiences and a deep-seated desire to make a difference in their community. “We’ve lived on both sides of it,” Craig explained. “We’ve lived with no money and not being able to afford stuff. So I know exactly what it’s like to have to go and ask somebody for something.”
This empathy and understanding have shaped their business philosophy, which is centred on helping people in need, even if it means the business takes a financial hit. “If we know people are having a hard time, we help them out. If I can give them a discount or charge them cost, then that’s what I do,” Craig said.
One recent example: A woman had been through family tragedy but needed a couple thousand dollars worth of work on her vehicle. The customer couldn’t afford all the repairs and was naturally upset about the cards she had been dealt.
“When she came in to pay, she didn’t have the money, so she was quite upset about it. So we gave it to her,” Craig said. “I could never do that before. So for me, opening our own business, that was my goal — to be able to do that stuff. We you couldn’t do it [before]. I had worked for other people who would never let you just give, literally, $2,500 worth of work away.”

Opening the doors
Craig got his start in the industry as a transmission apprentice. He quickly realized he didn’t like that side of the industry. He got offered a job with what as then an a engine rebuilder, made the jump and never looked back.
But Craig didn’t always envision himself as a business owner. For more than 20 years, he managed garages for others. But it was his wife Heather who encouraged him to take the leap and open his own shop. Rather than taking orders from others, she turned to him one day and said, “Well, it’s time for you to open up your own business,” Craig recalled.
Four and a half years ago, the Maidens family purchased Almar Automotive and transformed it into Maidens Family Auto Care. Almar itself had a strong reputation in the community so Craig knew he had big shoes to fill.
“There’s a lot of trust in place that their customers put into us. My customers knew who I was, so they knew exactly how I dealt, but there were a lot of [new] customers that didn’t know how we dealt. They had to learn to trust us. And they trust us now,” he said. “Our attitude was very much the same as the previous owners. So it was smooth that way.”
Much of the clientele Maidens took over were older. Craig recalled one lady crying when she found out Almer had sold to the Maidens family.
“That’s the relationship that they had and we wanted to have that same style of relationship,” Craig said. “I don’t want to make people cry, but it’s the trust that you want them to have.”
This commitment to community and customer care is evident in the shop’s impressive Google reviews, which boast a 4.9-star rating with more than 360 reviews.
“I think that tells me that a lot of our customers know us and appreciate us on a personal level,” Craig explained. “It’s not at a business level for them, and we try not to. I try not to treat anybody at a business level, but more of a personal level.”
This commitment to building lasting relationships is evident in the way the Maidens treat their customers, especially the younger generation. When a customer’s kid gets their first car, Crag gives them a business card with his cellphone number so they can always get hold of someone if they ever got in a problem.
“If there was ever an issue with their cars, they know they can call,” Heather said. “And we tell them we’ll call them back very shortly, if not answer the call right away.”

Community
The Maidens approach extends beyond the walls of their shop. They are deeply involved in their local community, with Craig serving on the boards of various organizations, including the Army Cadet support committee and the local Legion. He was involved with scouting for 25 years. The family also volunteers with Candlelighters Simcoe, a support group for parents with children with cancer. They also lend support to Canadian Forces Base Borden, a half hour west of Barrie.
“At any point in your life, you could be in that situation” of needing help, Heather said as to why the family supports so many local groups.
“When we were kids, we lived at the food bank. When my sister’s kid got cancer, she lived through Candlelighters As a family, we’ve had to lean on all those community organizations,” Craig said. “So it’s just time to give back. We have the ability.”
“There’s a lot of trust in place that their customers put into us. My customers knew who I was, so they knew exactly how I dealt, but there were a lot of [new] customers that didn’t know how we dealt. They had to learn to trust us. And they trust us now.”
Family
The family-oriented nature of the business extends to the Maidens’ own family members. Three out of the five family members work at the shop, plus their daughter, who helps with social media on the side of her regular career.
Three members still live in the same house. Despite the close-knit nature of the business, the Maidens make a conscious effort to separate their work and personal lives.
“We all drive our cars separately. We drive in separately and leave separately. And really, that time is to forget about work and go back to family. We don’t talk about business at home, and if we do it’s got to be something pretty key that’s going on. But we definitely don’t talk about business at home.”
Ensuring work-life balance has been crucial for the Maidens and the business. Craig and Heather don’t want to overwork their staff and ensure they have time to spend with their families. Especially living near popular weekend destinations, the Maidens want their staff to be able to get home rather than sit in traffic.
“We take Saturdays off. We don’t work Saturdays. We don’t work Friday afternoons. It’s about giving back time to my staff in the community,” Craig said.
And his staff are compensated for the time. It’s the shop’s decision to close so it’s important to Craig and Heather that the staff are paid for that time.

Keeping busy
The shop was established just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but the Maidens were able to navigate the challenges thanks to their designation as an essential service.
Despite the uncertainty, Maidens has been thriving since the beginning. “We’ve been busy from the get-go,” Craig said.
Part of the Maidens’ success can be attributed to their commitment to staying up to date with industry changes and providing their staff with comprehensive training. “The industry is changing very, very fast, day to day,” Craig said. “So you really have to stay up on top of everything.”
To ensure their technicians are equipped to handle the evolving automotive landscape, the Maidens prioritize hands-on training and industry-specific courses. “My staff does training almost monthly,” Craig explained.
However, they are not fans of online training and seek out opportunities to get hands-on, in-person training. They find lunch and learn sessions and take in training from manufacturers.
Craig is open to change and learning new ways of doing things.
“Just because we always do it that way doesn’t mean we always need to do it that way. That’s been a saying of mine forever. I stand by that,” he said. “I mean, just because we’ve always run our business that way doesn’t mean we always need to do it. And anything and we do in life can run on that.”
The future
The Maidens’ openness to change and new technology is also a key factor in their success. As the industry shifts towards electric and hybrid vehicles, the shop is preparing for the future.
“We were saying no to a lot of EV and hybrid repairs because we just couldn’t do them,” Craig said. “And then if you look out on the parking lot here, I’m sure out of 100 cars, you probably see 10 that are electric or hybrid. So it’s going to be a huge part of our business. There’s no running away from it.”
To meet this growing demand, Maidens is investing in the necessary equipment and training for their technicians. “We’re slowly buying equipment and getting training, getting my guys trained up on it,” Craig said.
That also means adding to the number of professionals who can work on such vehicles. For Craig, that means going into the high schools and developing a strong co-op program to introduce young people to the automotive industry and helping them find their career path.
“When I was 17-18, years old, I didn’t have a clue what I want to do. I changed my career three times in my last in grade 12, going into college,” he said. “So the co-op program is a huge program, and I think that that’s one that everybody should participate in because it does get us people in the trade I was industry.”

Advice
As is tradition, every Shop of the Year winner is asked to give their key piece of advice to fellow shop owners and industry professionals.
For Craig, it’s simple. “Be fair, be honest,” he said.
For Heather, it was to always be transparent and explain everything you can to the customer “in terms they understand.”
While Craig doesn’t like the term “dumb it down,” he agreed with Heather and noted that what happens under the hood of a car can be difficult to explain to people. So try to do it in simple ways.
“Don’t hide anything, explain stuff, don’t leave people in a lurch,” he said. “People want to know what’s going on. They’re coming into your shop and they don’t have a clue what you’re doing. All they’ve heard is bad stories about everybody else. You don’t want to be one of those bad stories. Keep people informed.”
You’re not protecting trade secrets, Heather noted. “Refer it to something relatable to them,” she advised.
Craig will often draw pictures for customers to help them understand what’s wrong with the vehicle and to show how one part works with another and why the fix is needed.
“We take pictures of everything. So when my guys do an inspection report, there are photos of absolutely everything,” he added. “And I get excited when I can show the customers and the people the photos of what’s going on, what’s wrong with their car.”
At the end of the day, you’re giving the customer information so they understand what needs to be done and why.
“They don’t feel like you’re trying to hide something from them,” Heather explained. “They want to know that, A, their car is safe to drive. Or, B, why does this need to be fixed?”
They might question why coolant was put in the car when they came in for a new alternator. “Well, it’s because in order to get to it, we had to remove the lower rad hose, which caused your coolant to leak out,” she said as an example of properly explaining the job.
“If they don’t understand, then they feel like they’re being taken advantage of or they have mistrust,” Heather said. “And if they understand what’s going on, then there’s less mistrust and they trust you to make sure that their car is running.”
This article originally appeared in the December 2024 issue of CARS magazine.
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