San Andreas, CA…A1 has been Serving Calaveras county, central California valley and surrounding areas since 2007. They offer full service repair and sales of tractors, mowers, weedeaters, trimmers, chainsaws, logsplitters, generators and rototillers. In addition they provide sharpening service for chainsaws, mower blades and circular saw blades. They re-located to a new, larger building at 660 E. St. Charles St, San Andreas, CA which allows for off street parking and a larger showroom.

At 17, Chris Masselas started working at a tractor dealership. During the next two years, he became a journeyman, developed a passion for diesel, and worked at a number of places where he could get hands-on training repairing and maintaining tractors and other machinery. In addition, Masselas learned about the value of quality service and support, and the importance of being honest and trustworthy when building customer relationships. Masselas also decided quickly, that one day, he wanted to run his own tractor dealership.

When he turned 22, Masselas began to pursue that dream and purchased his own shop – A-1 Sharpening and Small Engine Repair. A 500-square-foot shop based in San Andreas, California, A-1 Sharpening and Small Engine Repair offered service and support for tractors and other mechanical equipment. Providing his support from Day One, Masselas’ brother Niko joined the business full-time after a few years. When the company fell on hard times, the Masselas brothers received some financial backing from their parents. With the four Masselas family members now partners forming a limited liability company, A-1 Sharpening and Small Engine Repair made it through those tough times and found business on the rise. That’s when they decided they were ready to sell tractors.

So, C. Masselas began searching for tractor manufacturers willing to take a chance on a small shop with a relatively young owner-operator. It was not long before he met with a representative from KIOTI, who took the time to get to know the Masselas brothers, walk through the A-1 Sharpening and Small Engine Repair facility, research the market size, and realize the potential.

In 2015, they started selling KIOTI tractor products.

In 2016, A-1 Sharpening and Small Engine Repair was named KIOTI’s Dealer of the Year. In 2017, A-1 Sharpening and Small Engine Repair received KIOTI’s 5-Paw Dealer Excellence status, a certification which honors dealerships who deliver outstanding overall performance. In just two short years, the dealership has sold almost 100 KIOTI tractors to small homeowners/landowners in the Tri-county area (Calaveras, Amador and Tuolomne Counties).

What is the secret to this dealer’s success? “Confidence,” said C. Masselas. “The customer needs to be confident in us. They need to have confidence in the tractors we sell and in the service we provide. Buying a tractor is an investment, and we want our customers to be satisfied with their tractor and trust that we will work with them to care for it.” Masselas continued to explain that the team at A-1 works hard to earn each customer’s trust and keep the relationship strong.

Success also reflects the Masselas’ confidence in KIOTI. Potential customers may not know about much KIOTI when they first walk through the doors at A-1 Sharpening and Small Engine Repair. But it does not take long for the A-1 team to educate them.

An example of that responsiveness was in September 2015. Wild fires devastated the Tri-county area. The fires, California’s third worst wildfire in history, started in the canyon and quickly spread from 1000 acres to more than 75,000. Once the fires were out, residents pulled together to clean up. That’s when A-1 Sharpening and Small Engine Repair and KIOTI worked together to get tractors in the hands of folks who could use them to move trees, fences, and other debris from their respective properties safely and effectively. Then landowners used those same tractors to prepare that land for use again – for farming, grazing etc. To this day, A-1 continues to grow and be a positive force in the Tri-county area.

Today, A-1 Sharpening and Small Engine Repair consists of a 7000-sq.ft. facility with enough KIOTI tractors to allow customers to see the products firsthand. With the success the Masselas’ have had in recent years, A-1 is surely a dealer to watch.