NEWS

Niles resident knows what it takes to get your kid into this car

South Bend Tribune

NILES

Martinez Stephens knows a business opportunity when he sees one.

He’s a natural entrepreneur who can transform an idea into an enterprise.

Stephens works as a personal trainer, giving advice to everyone from area athletes to people who attend House of Prayer Church in Cassopolis, where he also serves as pastor.

In addition, he’s worked as a barber and in the music industry in Chicago where he partnered with R&B and hip-hop artists, and in Niles where he makes gospel music and videos.

Business acumen runs in the family. We met his two daughters, Naomi and Neriah, after the girls parlayed their love of makeup and lip gloss into a company called NS Cosmetics.

So when a friend told Stephens about someone who had a wholesale business that involved buying small, battery operated cars that parents often purchase for their children as birthday and Christmas gifts, Stephens’ business ‘Spidey senses’ perked up.

He drove up to Wisconsin to meet the man, where he learned about the kiddie cars, as well as the man’s other business ventures.

Parents can buy these battery operated vehicles that look like the cars, SUVs, trucks that you see driving on roads throughout Michiana at most big box stores or online from retailers like Amazon. Still, Stephens sensed an opportunity.

“What I do is I get the wholesale price and have the boxes shipped here, and then I put them together myself whereas when you buy them on your own you have to look at the owner’s manual and do it yourself,” he said.

Any parent who has tried to assemble anything for their children knows that can be a tricky proposition, so having Stephens take care of that is a big selling point, said Mike Freeland, who has purchased two vehicles in recent months.

Freeland said that he bought a Mercedes SUV for his son about a year ago and returned to buy a bigger one because that child is now 17 months old and Freeland and his wife had a second child, a daughter.

Freeland said that he and his wife were looking for the miniature vehicle but couldn’t find one at a good price.

“So we went on Facebook Marketplace and eventually my wife found him,” Freeland said. “We saw different things and sent him a couple of messages, went down and checked him out.

“Sure enough we bought one.”

Stephens said that he offers a range of vehicles that parents probably can’t find at local stores. He has carried Mercedes Benz, Lamborghini, Land Rover and Range Rover vehicles, just to name a few. He will be getting mini models of the Slingshot roadster car that has two front wheels and one rear one.

“I also get bigger Land Rover and Range Rovers,” he said. “Things that you can have out in the snow. And I also get tractors that have lift gates and kids can put snow and dirt in them.

“That’s why I call this the ‘kiddie car dealership’,” he said, “because it’s all about kids having fun.”

Freeland agreed that the selection and the fact that Stephens assembled the cars were both big selling points.

Stephens said that any entrepreneur looking to make inroads into any market has to find ways to stand out, and he says that customer service has been his way of doing that. That includes remaining in contact with customers after the sale to ensure they’re satisfied.

“If something goes wrong, they can come to me,” he said. “I’m a people person who likes doing this.”

Stephens said that he believes that it is his love of helping people that inspired his children to go into business on their own.

“God put me into ministry and ministry is simply helping people,” he said, “and so what they see in my grind is how I treat people and that even when it comes to making money, I try to be good to people.”

Martinez Stephens poses for a portrait with the cars he sells for kids Thursday at his home in Niles.
Martinez Stephens’ McLaren model of a car for kids.