Brothers build car business from ground up

With the recent expansion to a third lot – as well as a spot in the Cottonwood Mall – M&F Auto Sales is making its presence felt throughout the city.

The new lot on the Lomas NE auto row near San Mateo wasn’t something Mike and Fadi Hosni were necessarily looking for, but it was too good a spot to pass up.

	M&F Auto Sales What you didn’t know The dealership: The company never has had a business plan to manage its growth. Favorite car: “Any car that’s nice and clean,” Fadi Hosni said. Upcoming promotion: By the end of the month, M&F will have a grand opening of its newest lot on 5704 Lomas NE, which will include special deals and many surprises.

“We didn’t want to expand,” Mike Hosni said. “But we saw an opportunity and we went for it. It’s not like we were looking for another lot. But if we were going to get one, this is it because I consider this prime real estate.”

That’s pretty much how the business has gone since the brothers switched from selling cars wholesale to dealers to selling retail to the public in 1997.

“We opened our doors with five cars,” Mike Hosni recalled. “And little by little from that point we grew one day at a time.”

They got their start in the business by buying cars and fixing them before selling to the dealers.

“I was just always real good fixing cars,” Mike Hosni said. “Other people think it’s so complicated, but for me, it was just easy.”

He brought Fadi Hosni, who also has a knack with engines, into the business and things just grew from there.

“I would bring a car home and we would repair it at night and have it cleaned and put it out on the lot,” Mike Hosni said. “Then the demand became too high and we had to hire a lot attendant. Then we had to hire a sales guy. And that’s the way it’s gone.”

And once work is completed to expand their service center on Coors NE to 15 bays, the company will have more than 40 employees, Fadi Hosni said.

One of the keys to their business is an automatic warranty that every vehicle carries, he said.

The “1,000-mile, 30-day” warranty even pops up on the front of the business Web wage, Fadi Hosni said.

And another important aspect of the company, he said, is the desire to give back to the community. M&F was a sponsor of the “Bras Across the Bosque,” to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research, and also supports St. Pius High School.