We love our awards.
Over the years, Lowell's has been voted "Best Mechanic" eight times by Ace Weekly readers, including a win in 2009.
We've also been voted Readers' Choice "Favorite Auto Repair Shop" four times by Herald-Leader readers, including the last three times the repair shop category has been available: 2007, 2009, and 2010.
Our awards are vital to our growth as a business - they tell prospective customers that our current customers really like doing business with us.
So you might imagine our disappointment when we found out that Ace dropped the "Best Mechanic" category from its 2010 Best of Lex [PDF link] awards.
When the Best of Lex awards came out recently, however, we were in for a pleasant surprise:
"Some 'classic' categories are retired this year to make room for new ones to rotate in — best veterinarian and best mechanic always generate a frenzy of votes, for example — but Chevy Chase Small Animal and Lowell's (respectively) have won so often that it was time to let the readers vote for something new..."
While it isn't quite as prestigious as a 'win', having a category retired because we've won it so often is still a considerable honor.
Thank you so much for supporting us (and voting for us!) over the years. And here's hoping the "Best Mechanic" award makes a return in 2011.