Family Owned: Beyond its clever reader boards, there’s generations of knowledge and repair work at Golden Rule Brake

The signs.

When you mention Golden Rule Brake, the first thing people usually remark on are the reader boards featuring amusing or thought-provoking messages.

A recent sign read: Dating advice. If he smells like fabric softener he’s married.

“We had a woman stop by to tell us that every week she stops and takes a picture and shares it with others,” said owner Dallas Low. “People feel very strongly about the signs.”

The reader boards were his father, Jerry’s idea.

Jerry’s father, Lester, and his uncle, Harvey, founded Golden Rule Brake in 1954. Jerry bought the business in 1980.

“Not too long after I bought it I decided to put reader boards up and I didn’t want to advertise products,” he recalled.

He used books to find the messages. Dallas uses the internet.

Some things have changed in the 70-year-old business, but not its name or its meaning.

“It’s from the Bible,” Jerry said. “The golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

The original shop was located downtown, but in 1961 Lester Low bought property on North Monroe and built a new shop.

“That’s when the business took off,” Jerry said.

As a kid, he’d briefly worked at Golden Rule, but when it came time to support his family, he chose to be a carpet layer. By 1980, his knees were wearing out, so he bought the family business.

In 1995, Jerry leased property on East Francis and had a shop built to suit. Three years, later he bought a site on Pines Road and had another shop built.

At 13, Dallas’ first job was changing the reader board at the Monroe location. He also swept the shop and lined brake shoes.

“I lasted about six weeks,” he recalled. “I had no interest in turning wrenches.”

He earned a business degree from the University of Colorado and he and his wife, Tanya Low, started a nonprofit.

“My wife is a singer-songwriter-recording artist,” said Dallas. “In 2008, we went on the road with our kids in a Greyhound bus we’d converted into an RV.”

He did the booking, played guitar, and coached churches around the country about how to do community outreach.

In 2012, he got a call from his dad who wanted to know if he’d be interested in buying the business.

“It wasn’t on my radar,” Dallas said. “I always felt I had a calling to ministry.”

But they’d been on the road for four years and their kids were getting older. He agreed to return to Spokane and work with Jerry for a year, to see if it would be a good fit.

It was, and in 2013 he purchased Golden Rule Brake.

Originally, the business focused solely on brakes and alignments.

“Everybody knows us for brakes – it’s in our name,” said Dallas. “Now, we do a lot more suspension work – struts, ball joints, tie rods and steering mechanisms. We’re known as the experts in our field.”

Golden Rule continued to grow. Dallas expanded the Francis and Pines locations and had another lift put in at the Monroe site.

In 2023, they opened a shop in Post Falls. Plans to open a second North Idaho location are in the works. The company employs 28, with a manager at each location.

As the automotive industry evolves, Golden Rule keeps up with new technology.

“We do brakes for electric vehicles, now,” Dallas said. “I bought a Tesla to see what it was all about.”

With all the change, the roots of the family business remain.

“I have customers come in and say, ‘I remember your grandpa,” he said.

And in 2022, a fourth generation joined the company – Dallas’ son Jeremiah.

He’d started working part time in the business during high school. When he was a sophomore his dad told him he could take a gap year after graduation work alongside him.

“I told him I’d teach him things he’d never learn in college,” Dallas said. “How to hold a meeting – how to communicate in social situations. At the time I made the offer I didn’t need the help, but by the time he graduated, I really needed him. We’d grown to the point where I was burned out.”

Working with family members can be challenging.

“There’s pros and cons to having your dad as your boss,” Jeremiah said. “It’s easier to speak my mind, which can also become difficult!”

Dallas says it’s a privilege to work with his son.

“We think a lot alike. He’s very analytical.”

Jeremiah’s responsibilities have grown.

“It’s changed a lot,” he said. “I do payroll, accounts receivable and HR. On Mondays, we go to each location together and on Thursdays, I go on my own.”

However, one responsibility eludes him.

“He doesn’t let me choose the messages for the signs,” said Jeremiah, grinning.

Dallas remains keenly aware of the hard work generations before him put into developing a thriving business.

“I’m the owner of Golden Rule, but I see myself as a caretaker,” he said. “The business was here before me and I hope and pray it will be here after me.”

For locations, hours and information, visit goldenrulebrake.com.