Today we’d like to introduce you to Karim Qader.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Karim. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Wizard werks was established in 1996 under Wizard Communications in Roger Park, a beeper, cell phone store then in 1999 we went to 3 bay automotive repair shop. In 2008 we opened up Wizard werks in south loop, where we did autobody and repairs on mostly European and Japanese cars. We built a very good customer base and our business kept growing year by year. The key was to give honest and quality service, which is pretty hard to find in this industry. Majority of our customer come from local dealerships complaining how they always get up sold or repairs that they don’t think was needed. By building a relationship with our customers and getting great reviews online really helped to where we are today. Most people ask me how did get to where you are and I tell them very simple ‘don’t rip people off and do quality work’. You can’t look at every customer as a big dollar sign but look at them as a long term investment. They might spend $100 today and spend $500 next time and so on.
In 2015, I finally decided to build my ultimate dream shop and that when we opened our new and state of the art location in Goose Island. It was a 2 million dollar investment which was pretty risky but I just went with my gut feeling that we were going to make as long as we did business as we always have. Someone once told me that you will do good in the automotive industry because you have the passion for it and to be honest I have been a gear-head since I was young boy. I remember watching my dad drive a manual transmission car and learning how it works when I was like 8 years old. In high school I took auto repair classes and then worked at a few auto repair and bodyshops. I was also very involved in car racing scene, build quite a few race cars. My favorite cars are always going to be the BMW e30 M3 and the Ford Mustang fox body… My dad really had a lot of influence on me in this business, he was in the car business back in homeland (Afghanistan) in the late 60’s and 70’s until he was forced to flee his country due to Soviet Invasion in 1979. Seeing my family suffer throughout my childhood made me very strong and very ambitious at the same time. Being the oldest in my family put a burden on my shoulder to help provide and that’s when I decided that I have to work hard and sacrifice. Building a business is not easy by all means but being successful is definitely a great accomplishment. We are going expand our business into the Northshore in the next year or so and possibly In Phoenix Az. My goal is to keep being honest and do good work.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not is ever easy but if you work hard it always pays off.
1. Good employees
2. Building a client base
3. Working with honest vendors
4. Dealing with certain customers can be a big pain
Wizard Werks – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We specialize in Auto repair and bodywork. Our specialty is European and high line Japanese. We do honest work and don’t up-sell our customers. We are a one stop shop!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
To build my dream shop here at 870 W. Division St
Contact Info:
- Address: 870 W DIVISION ST.
- Website: wizardwerkschi.com
- Phone: 312-291-9449
- Email: info@wizardwerkschi.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wizardwerks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WizardWerksChi/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/wizardm3
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wizard-werks-chicago
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
