30 years ago, before Kelly’s Auto Repair & Service moved to its permanent location on Dunnellon Rd., owner Kelly Michel operated his automotive repair shop at a location on Lockport Lane and then in Romeo as he and his family built the shop at its current location on Dunnellon Rd.
When Michel arrived in Dunnellon from Miami with his wife Amy and young family in the 90s, he was no stranger to being a mechanic. He started working in his dad Roy’s shop in Miami when he was just 16 years old.
While it was not Kelly Michel’s original plan to follow in his father’s, after a year studying music in college, he had changed his mind. Except he was certain he did not want to live in Miami anymore.
Michel’s goal after relocating to the Dunnellon area was to have his own shop within five years.
Michel bought the lot on Dunnellon Road in 1997. With his dad and family and friends, Michel worked nights and weekends building the shop. “It took eight months from start to finish,” said Amy Michel, Kelly’s wife, who handles the bookkeeping for the business.
Kelly’s Auto Repair & Service opened in its permanent location in January 1998. Michel’s dad, having sold his shop in Miami and retired, was there to advise and lend a hand with both the building of the shop. Later, Michel’s dad continued to suggest ways to add on once the shop was up and running. Michel’s mom helped out too, in the office, and making photo albums of their progress, which were on display at the business’s 30-year celebration on Saturday July 12.
Friends, family and customers past and present stopped by on Saturday to socialize, have some barbeque made by longtime friends Sean and Sonia Murray, play games, and listen to music. Jake White sang and played guitar for the first few hours, followed by the Keith Caton Blues Band. In between, Michel drew names for prizes ranging from KARS swag to items from NAPA and other auto supply companies.
Some of Michel’s customers who have been bringing their vehicles to him for decades attended the party on July 12, including Michael Giordano, who calls Michel “Dr. Kelly” and says that Michel is the only one he trusts with his ’67 Corvette.
Another, Sharon Acevedo, who learned about the shop from then-mechanic Don Slocum, started bring her Chevy Caprice in 1998. Acevedo recalled the times when Michel’s mom and dad were still there helping. “Kelly’s mom is the sweetest woman,” said Acevedo. “I love her, and I appreciate him more than you could ever imagine.”
Acevedo now drives a 2024 Toyota Highlander. “No one touches the car but Kelly,” said Acevedo, who added that she does not even take it to Toyota for the free oil changes. “I don’t trust anybody else.”
Just as his dad helped him get started in business, Michel has now begun to have his own son, Justin, take over more responsibility so he can run the business when he retires. Justin, who has worked in the shop since he was a teen, has now put in 20 years at the family’s shop.
“I see a lot of parallels and similarities between my dad and myself and Justin and me,” said Michel. “My dad was extremely instrumental in helping me as I’m trying to do for my son. [My dad] saw things and said, ‘why don’t we do this?’ We have made huge improvements since we started, and now as things evolve it should be [Justin’s], the way he wants to do it once he’s taken over, but I’ll always be there for him.”
Now 37, Justin has spent nearly all of his working life at the shop, save for a brief period when he worked for a software company. He started out as a go-fer and doing oil changes, was a technician, and then a service writer for 12 years. Now he is in a management position and, through training and discussions with others in his peer group, has some of his own ideas to expand on what his father has built.