A used-vehicle store in Charlotte, N.C., is offering its lot as a "safe space" for people who are down on their luck and having to sleep in their car.

The offer has generated national attention for the small business, and the store's manager said it quickly sparked an uptick in customers, too.

"We've gotten lots of calls," James Charles of Kiplin Automotive Group said in a video he posted on Facebook. "We've probably had about 53 people in the last three days that have filled out an online application requesting to do business with us, which is more than we've had, volume-wise, in a very long time."

Charles told TV station WBTV that the idea started when his store tried to repossess a vehicle and found that the owner was living in it.

The lot is brightly lit and monitored by security cameras; police and local security companies have offered to check in periodically as well.

"We have tons of space," Charles told WBTV. "And we know people are doing it. We know for a fact that people are living in their cars temporarily."