When you’re restoring a car as rare as a 1931 American Austin Bantam, or building a custom street rod, you can’t just order exactly what you need online. When the parts don’t exist, you need Professional Parts People to help find solutions. Auto enthusiasts in northwest Wisconsin know they can visit the O’Reilly Auto Parts store 1526 in Rice Lake, where Store Manager Madi Hagen is a local legend for her “parts and crafts” projects.
The 1931 Bantam Roadster is one of only 50 known to exist. Parts are nearly unobtainable – even reproductions – so owner, Ted Southworth, came to O’Reilly when he needed help locating brakes for the project. As always, Hagen and her team jumped in enthusiastically to tackle the challenge. “Sometimes it just starts with ‘I need brake drums for my Bantam but you won’t find that in the catalog,’” Madi said. “When I heard that, I just started asking for measurements and we went into the digital catalog and narrowed it down.”
Once Madi and Ted found a few brake drum options, she ordered them and asked him to bring in his old part to match it. “He brought the drum and we were able to take exact measurements and drill our selections down further until we landed on the ones he needed. He was absolutely elated that we were able to find something that would work for him.”
Another customer, Josh Sagler, brought in his Dodge Li’l Red Express for similar service. The store team impressed him by finding parts that would work for his antique muscle truck “by measurement and sometimes just by picture.” After success rebuilding his first unusual project, he returned with a 1948 Allis Chalmers G tractor to test their parts knowledge even further.
As their leader, Madi is quick to recognize how each of her team members contributes to the store’s reputation for helping customers with difficult requests. Retail Service Specialist Austin Schiebel is a fabricator outside of his work at O’Reilly. Madi says he excels at troubleshooting engine swaps and at piecing together components for axles and driveshafts that didn’t originally come with the vehicles they’re going in. When customers want to add modern components to classic restorations, Assistant Store Manager Roy Polichnia shines at helping them source “newer engines for really old vehicles.”
Madi has been in the auto parts industry since 2011, starting as a delivery driver. Even before joining Team O’Reilly in 2015, she was committed to dominating the market through relentless hard work and customer service. Her win-win attitude and her team’s skill have gone far to build relationships with hobbyists and professional installers in the area. Eric Lofquist, a customer who relies on the store to supply his custom-built Comet, raved about his experience, “When I need answers, I know who to call. With the store in Rice Lake, I can always count on excellent customer service and knowledgeable staff to help me get my hot rod to the next show or my daily to work.” Owner of Chetek Auto Body, Layne French, agreed. “O’Reilly Auto Parts has been great for getting parts for my Chevelle, as well as my body shop. Madi in the Rice Lake store has helped me with so much information and knowledge for my shop.”
The team at the Rice Lake store doesn’t take that trust for granted. “Here in the Midwest, word of mouth truly makes or breaks a business,” Madi said. “We’ve had so many new customers come in saying ‘my buddy said you guys helped him find what he needed…so here I am.’” She noted that the store’s reputation for successful parts and crafts projects “definitely creates repeat customers, has rekindled professional business, and led to referrals.”
O’Reilly is always looking for new team members who have deep parts knowledge, a desire to learn more, and dedication to customer service like the team at Store 1526. To find career opportunities in your area, please visit careers.oreilly.com.