Frank's Service Center Has "Roots" In Ulysses Community

Frank Hernandez knows this community and, with more than four decades of experience under his belt, he knows tires, too.

“I worked for the Ulysses Co-op tire center for 22 years and then they shut down the tire service and an opportunity came up for me to go out on my own,” Hernandez said, adding he began marketing his business right away. “I went out and networked - I told people my plans to start my own business.”

Hernandez bought the former Co-op business on Colorado Street in Ulysses and Frank’s Service Center was born in 2001. He eventually purchased another shop, the former Perry’s Tire and Supply on Sunset and opened a second location in September 2020, for his thriving business.

“I operated both locations for awhile and then about two years ago I moved everything (from the Colorado Street location) to the shop on Sunset,” Hernandez said, adding that business wasn’t down, in fact, it was trying to be two places at once that was the problem. “People would come in one location and need something and they would want to talk to me about it when I was at the other location. I was going 100 miles per hour trying to be everywhere.”

It was his philosophy of how customers are to be treated that caused him to make the decision that would ensure customer service was top priority.

“They want and need good, quality, fast service,” Hernandez said. “And that’s what we offer here. I keep a clean shop. We are customer friendly.”

Honesty is the best policy, according to Hernandez.

“You have to be honest about how you do business,” he said. “If you are going to live in this community - you better be honest in how you treat people if you want them to keep coming back. Word of mouth gets around. We strive every day to get work done for our customers as fast and safe as possible. We try to accommodate them as much as we can. I think we are doing a pretty good job of that. I’ve had people ask, ‘you’re already done?’, when their job is finished. We do our best.”

Hernandez feels his business stands out from others of his type because of the service they offer, their competitive pricing and customer satisfaction.

“We do our very best to make sure our customers are happy,” said employee Jill Smith, who has been an employee for the past 11 years. “We are friendly to everyone who comes through our doors and may even tease them a little bit.”

Hernandez interjected that “the greeting” when people come in makes a big difference.

“Meeting people is my favorite part of this job,” he said. “You have the opportunity to meet all different types.”

Hernandez’s roots run deep in the Ulysses community.

“The best thing about this community is that everybody knows you,” Hernandez said. “I went to school here. I raised four daughters here. I have 16 grandkids - I help take care of them. My roots are firmly planted.”

He is also very active in the community he loves.

“I try to help where I can,” Hernandez said. “I’ve invested a lot in this community. I give to the schools, clubs like 4-H, I sponsor different things and I’m active in church. I want to give back to this community because they have supported me not only when I was starting out with my business, but also when my wife got cancer and later died. This community reached out to us and taught me to reach out to others.”

Hernandez said his wife was there helping him when he first started out on his own. Although the two started the business venture together, Hernandez said she had her doubts.

“I was working driving a fertilizer truck,” he said. “First time I came home I was covered in black. I was never dirty when I came home from my other job. She asked me why I would want to have a job where I got dirty all the time.”

Frank’s Service Center currently has 10 employees. Two of those are Hernandez’s grandsons.

“They are still in school so they help in the summer,” he said. “They mow and clean the shop. They can’t do anything with the tires until they are 18 - insurance won’t allow it.”

Hernandez also has another grandson, Kaden Jaquez, and a son-in-law who work for him as well. He hopes his business will continue on even if some day it is without him. He would like for it to be handed down to family.

They offer alignments, tire repairs, oil changes, they work on brakes and sell both new and used tires.

“We sell tires for just about everything including lawn mowers and bicycles,” Hernandez said, “However, we don’t sell motorcycle tires. We offer pretty much anything you could think of pertaining to tires. We also do repair work on car motors - we can do pretty much anything on them motor wise except over hauls. We do spark plugs, and more.”

Frank’s Service Center is also a U-Haul dealer and offers a SNAP program for those who may need a way to finance what they need.

“It only takes a few minutes,” Smith said. “We help them with the application on the computer and if approved they can use it to finance new tires, brake work, etc.”

Apart from the service work, Hernandez has branched out to include party rental location in his list of service. Part of the shop has been set aside and can be rented for parties, weddings, dances, etc.

“We plan to eventually add a kitchen and a stove,” he said.

If he could do anything differently regarding his business, Hernandez said, “Everybody needs tires. If you have one vehicle or two or three. I would have started it 10 years sooner than I did.”

Frank’s Service Center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. until noon. It is located at 53 Sunset Street in Ulysses.