TWICE AS NICE: Popular Ric & Rocky’s expanding to Plymouth
Ric & Rocky’s’ new Plymouth location at 543 Amelia St. is expected to open early next week.
Perennial winners of community customer satisfaction honors, Canton’s Ric & Rocky’s Family Car Care and Accessories is expanding its widely-respected car-care services to Plymouth.
The long-time automotive-maintenance specialist, which has served customers at its Canton location for two decades, is planning to open its Plymouth site at 543 Amelia St. (on the corner of Farmer and Amelia) early next week.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to open a second location,” said Ric & Rocky’s owner Rocky Johnson, whose business partner/father-in-law Ric Cudini is semi-retired but still active in the business. “We’re excited for people to see the Plymouth location. It’s very high-tech with all the latest stuff, but it’s still going to have a family feel to it.
“We renovated the building right down to the studs. The lobby is beautiful. It’s like walking into a high-end coffee shop.”
Roots in the community
Johnson and his wife Angie are P-CEP graduates and have raised their children in Canton.
Dominic Johnson, the Johnsons’ youngest son, is stepping in to manage the Canton location.
Scott Ford has been hired to serve as the service manager for the Plymouth location and Dave Kastl will handle the responsibilities of the master certified mechanic.
“We have a great staff that is very knowledgeable and passionate about what they do,” Johnson said. “And bringing Dominic in as the Canton manager makes us a three-generation family business, which we’re proud of.
Supporting the community it serves
“Our family is very supportive of the Plymouth and Canton communities. You’ll see me at the high school football games, shopping at Kroger and at all the Chamber of Commerce events. We love to volunteer and we plan to help plant flowers around Old Village in the coming weeks. We like to say, ‘We’re serving the community that supports us’.”
The business has deep roots in metro Detroit. Cudini launched an auto repair business in Westland in the late-90s before moving it to Canton in 2001. Johnson started working with Cudini in 2004 — when Dominic was three days old.
Ric & Rocky’s is a general automotive repair shop, Johnson, explained, which specializes in auto maintenance suspension and brake work, engine repair and tune-ups.
“If there is a funny sounding noise in your car, we’ll find what’s causing it,” Johnson said. “If your ‘check engine’ light’ is on, that’s our cup of tea.
Excitement builds
Johnson said preparing to open the new location has been an adrenaline rush.
“It’s consuming,” he said, smiling, “but well worth it. We were out shooting videos for advertising the other day and five groups of people stopped and talked to us for 10 to 15 minutes, wanting to know what was going on. We’re excited to be able to expand our state-0f-the-art business to Plymouth.”
The opening of a second location will make serving customers more streamlined, Johnson said.
“For instance, if we’re backed up at our Canton location, we will be able to call over to the Plymouth store — which is just four miles away — and get customers in there to get there car looked at right away,” he said.
To contact either Ric & Rocky’s location, call 734-414-3195. A prompt will ask you which location you would like to connect with.
Online scheduling is available on the business’s new website: rickandrockys.com.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
