When Stewart Waliser started going to Central Washington University, ‘surgeon’ was what he had in mind, but a mid-schooling epiphany led the then 20 year-old on a two-year long business project that recently opened its doors in Kirkland.

In 2012, Stewart was sitting his dorm room thinking of the work he had to do on his truck. However, with no garage and no where in Ellensburg to go, he’d be stuck in the cold.

“I owned, at the time, a [Toyota] Tacoma Truck, and it needed suspension work. It was really cold outside and raining… and I thought to myself ‘Man I wish there was a shop in Ellensburg that would let me rent a lift from them,’” Waliser said. “That was my ‘Eureka Moment’… So, instead of doing the suspension work on the truck I sold it and wrote my business plan.”

At the ripe old age of 18, Waliser began planning as a businessman. After taking Stew’s Self-Service Garage business plan to his mother, she decided to invest and Stew’s Garage was rolling.

“I’m just pleased as can be, so impressed,” said Shawn Waliser, Stew’s mother. “…I knew right away that this was good. That’s why I invested in it.”

Finally landing in Kirkland across the street from Dunn Lumber on 120th Street, everything started to come together.

Construction for the office spaces began and, less than three months later, Stew’s Self-Service Garage was open for business.

Two years of hard work and challenges, and finally they were ready for customers.

The day of the grand opening, held Oct. 26, Stew’s Garage threw together a mini car show, with a McLaren, a Porsche GT2 and an Audi V8 R8, to celebrate the affair.

“Unfortunately it was raining. We were going to have more cars here, but most of them said, ‘It’s raining’ and then didn’t come out,” Waliser said. “We still had the [three cars] and probably 50 to 60 people come by.”

For a purely social media promotional endeavor, there has been a steady stream of attention and customers, along with 500 Facebook likes.

Even though the doors have opened, the planning and cahooting haven’t ended. During the next year, Waliser plans to release television commercials, a YouTube channel, an online scheduling system and more.

For those who work on their cars, every tool under the sun can be used at Stew’s Garage and, if they don’t have it, they’ll purchase it at no cost. From the heated shop to the heated break room, open to all people not just employees, Stew’s Garage has everything anyone needs to get their car back on the road.

“Overall, it’s extremely clean and well organized, it all makes sense and makes it easy,” said Seth Harmon, a friend of Stewart’s and oil-changer for his sister. “It almost leaves no reason to not do it.”

For more information visit www.stewsgarage.com.