Controversial River Rd. Jiffy Lube sets new corporate design standard; grand opening

Kirsten Thompson, Lisa Johnson and Connie Kent cut the ribbon at the River Road Jiffy Lube, St. George, Utah, Nov. 14, 2014 | Photo courtesy of Susi Lafaele, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – The St. George Chamber of Commerce, Dixie Sunshiners, local businesses and community members gathered at the River Road Jiffy Lube, 1393 S. River Road in St. George, in the Boulder Creek Commons retail development, to welcome the new quick lube to the community with an official ribbon-cutting.

A new Jiffy Lube, located at 1393 S. River Road, is officially opened at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, St. George, Utah, Nov. 14, 2014 | Photo by Hollie Reina, St. George News
A new Jiffy Lube, located at 1393 S. River Road, is officially opened at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, St. George, Utah, Nov. 14, 2014 | Photo by Hollie Reina, St. George News

Co-owners Kelly Kent, Kelly Thompson and Matt Johnson, who together have more than 60 years of experience in the quick lube industry, were on hand for the ceremony; their wives, Connie Kent, Kirsten Thompson and Lisa Johnson, had the honor of cutting the ribbon.

“We are thrilled,” Kelly Kent said of the new location. “It is so nice.”

Despite initial environmental and aesthetic concerns from members of the community regarding the new Jiffy Lube, the new location opened on Sept. 15, co-owner Matt Johnson said, and already it is garnering accolades from within its own business genre.

“This location was being looked at for several years, but we had to get through some hurdles with the land,” Johnson said. “We did a lot of great stuff with the land to build it up and make it environmentally friendly, and then also we added a lot of landscaping for aesthetics.”

Community members residing on properties north of the building’s location were concerned about their view being compromised, Johnson said, so the Jiffy Lube owners extended their landscaping, which was originally designed to only grace the front of the building.

“We did it to please the community,” Johnson said, “because we care about what they think.”

The extra effort was worth it, Johnson said; the building has already won an award through the National Oil and Lube News contest for best-looking service center.

“The building itself is the new standard, the new design,” Johnson said. “This is what all the new Jiffy Lubes are going to look like after us winning our award.”

The new Jiffy Lube sits just above the banks of the Virgin River and, because of its location, came under a lot of fire from environmentalists who expressed concerns about possible water and ground contamination.

In order to protect the environment, the city built up the ground and installed slope-protecting riprap to keep the river contained and avoid any water entering the building from possible flooding, Johnson said.

“We got challenged twice right after we built the building,” Johnson said.

Two big September storms caused water to rise rapidly, he said, but the building wasn’t affected at all.

 River Road Jiffy Lube owners and their wives from left to right, Kelly Kent, Connie Kent, Kirsten Thompson, Kelly Thompson, Lisa Johsnon and Matt Johnson at the ribbon cutting ceremony, St. George, Utah, Nov. 14, 2014 | Photo by Hollie Reina, St. George News
River Road Jiffy Lube owners and their wives, from left, Kelly Kent, Connie Kent, Kirsten Thompson, Kelly Thompson, Lisa Johnson and Matt Johnson at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, St. George, Utah, Nov. 14, 2014 | Photo by Hollie Reina, St. George News

In addition to the exterior work, Johnson said, the shop’s owners have gone and will continue to go above and beyond to protect the environment and keep the site clean.

Waste oils are stored in tanks and pumped into tankers, Johnson said; they never go into the ground. Johnson added they are just as meticulous about what comes in as what goes out and will turn away tankers that show signs of leaking until the problem has been fixed on the vehicle.

“We are serious about keeping it clean,” he said.

Employees at the new location expressed excitement with the shop’s success so far and said they are happy to be part of the Jiffy Lube team.

“It has been a great experience getting this all set up,” employee Jordyn Fraser said. “It was a lot of hard work but it all paid off.”

Fraser works at the customer service counter and said she loves the camaraderie she feels with her co-workers.

“This is a family; we can rely on each other,” she said. “This is a job I am going to remember loving for a lifetime.”

Jiffy Lube shared its family atmosphere with the community this week, offering free oil changes to all veterans of the armed forces on Veterans Day.

“We performed over 400 free oil changes at our locations throughout Southern Utah,” Johnson said.

On Saturday, the River Road Jiffy Lube will host its grand opening event from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., with discounted oil changes all day. Oil changes will be $19.99, Johnson said, and there will be free pizza, radio broadcasts and prize giveaways, including a Kiss concert ticket giveaway.

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Event details

  • What: River Road Jiffy Lube grand opening
  • When: Saturday, Nov. 15, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
  • Where: Jiffy Lube, 1393 S. River Road, St. George
  • Cost: $19.99 oil changes all day, free pizza
  • Details: Area radio stations will be broadcasting from Jiffy Lube all day, and there will be several prize drawings, including tickets to see Kiss in concert in Las Vegas, which will be given away at 3 p.m.

Resources

  • To learn more about Jiffy Lube and its services, click here

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13 Comments

  • PROTECT THE SHEEP November 14, 2014 at 5:57 pm

    A few years back, Jiffy Lube’s unskilled employees didn’t tighten the drain plug after changing my car’s oil. Long story short, after a huge load of run around and BS from their idiot management their insurance finally cut me a check for totalling my car. Great company huh? Oh, and a dirty oil and lube place right by the river bank? Sounds like an idea a republican came up with…

    • MickeyD November 14, 2014 at 7:33 pm

      @Protect the Sheep, funny that the idea is supposedly from a Republican, yet you, as a presumed Democrat, are still driving around in your new oil-dependent automobile. If you weren’t such a democrat hypocrite you would be driving around on your little bicycle or electric car and wouldn’t even need to worry about a new Jiffy Lube location. Good luck to this Jiffy Lube business in their new location. May you be very successful!

    • Kill the Sheep November 15, 2014 at 7:16 am

      @protect the sheep, great user name. You want to protect them because that’s the only girlfriend/boyfriend you can get.

    • Devo November 15, 2014 at 9:49 am

      Yet the hypocrite liberal was giving that same business his oil driving automobile his business…. LOL, you can’t make up the stupidity….

  • Notagain November 14, 2014 at 6:54 pm

    Where’s the Virgin water going to go when that bridge is wiped out again during a 5.0 tremor or a dam breach up stream. I know, that’s what FEMA is for. But for now, the place looks real nice.

    • slick November 14, 2014 at 8:44 pm

      Where’s the water go ? To Lake Mead, sheeesh

  • Dolly November 14, 2014 at 7:26 pm

    Kudos to the owners of Jiffy Lube! They did a beautiful job with design & landscaping. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the building finished. Hoping that this will spur the completion of a market based shopping center across the street next to the Summit. A sign posted years ago (now long-ago disintegrated) made that promise and we’re still waiting. This end of town has only two choices; nearby – bargain Walmart or hi-end Harmon’s. A middle of the road market would
    be a welcome addition by many of us.

  • Bender November 14, 2014 at 10:17 pm

    The capricious Virgin River will have its revenge on the short-sighted local politicians, developers and complicit PE’s who signed off on flood plain development. She has a catchment basin, above the confluence with the Santa Clara River, of about 3,000 square miles with no on-stream reservoirs. It’ll happen like this: an unusual amount of low elevation snow pack will be followed by a warm prolonged winter rain event lasting several weeks. The Virgin, she will be crazy! Blowing out rip-rap, carving new channels and wreaking glorious vengeance on those who did not give her plenty of elbow room.

  • My Evil Twin November 15, 2014 at 5:06 pm

    OK, glad to see this is up and running. Now the question is, SMITH’S! Are they still going to put a (desperately needed) store in that area, or are they going to be blocked by the “powers that be,” Harmon’s & those idiots, (rich idiots, but idiots non the less,) that are trying to prevent it.

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