2.59 AM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

'Girly' garage twins tune-ups with manicures

A mechanic fixes a car exhaust pipe as she works in an innovative garage and auto repair workshop catering exclusively to female customers in the Parisian suburbs of Saint-Ouen-l'Aumone. (AFP)

Published
By AFP

A manicure, a massage and a lesson in mechanics. It's not what most expect when they bring their car in for servicing. But one brand-new garage near Paris is revamping the masculinist mode of auto repair to suit a female clientele.

Only Girls, which opened in May in the suburb of Saint-Ouen-l'Aumone, caters to women who feel they've been sold short and charged long by mechanics in traditional auto shops.

"When you're a woman, it's like you've got 'sucker' tattooed on your forehead," says Sandrine Hautenne, one happy 42-year-old customer.

"One time, I went round to three different garages, and got three different estimates. Since then, I've sent my uncle to get estimates and - guess what? - the prices have dropped!"

From cam belt to brake pads, customer Sandrine got a 15-minute run-down on her car from a female mechanic. "If it had been a man, he wouldn't have explained any of this to me," she says.

With only a month to its name, Only Girls has seen 40 customers, two-thirds of them women. "They're so welcoming here!" gushes Jennifer Collon, a 25-year-old who was drying her ruby-red nails after a manicure here.

In addition to the "beauty corner", the garage includes a children's playroom. Its waiting room is more akin to a beauty spa than traditional garage, with mauve-coloured wallpaper, hardwood floors, flickering candles and velvet sofas.

With increasing numbers of women living alone or taking control of domestic affairs, it's simply good business to cater to them, says Rodolphe Bonnasse, from the communication group CA Com.