BOB & SONS AUTOMOTIVE Celebrating 60 Years! On Sept. 18, Bob & Sons Automotive in Manchester honored its 60th year in business with a special celebration. The celebration took place at the shop on Kelley Street. It featured food trucks, music, time capsules, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, vehicles representing different decades since 1964, a Tesla on display and a fundraiser benefiting NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. THE ORIGIN STORY Robert Poirier, along with his partner, Aime Brunelle, opened the company in 1964. Robert had always enjoyed being around cars, eventually finding employment at a Texaco station in the 1950s, which he later purchased and transformed into the current business. Robert bought out Aime’s share of the company in 1969 and purchased the land from Texaco in 1981. Robert’s sons — Ron, Dennis and Richard — joined him in the business in 1983, and the business transformed into Bob & Sons Automotive in 1988. The business is now run by Robert’s grandson, Ian, and his wife, Stacy, who officially purchased the business in 2023. Ian attended Penn State but returned home to co-manage the business in 2012. Ian has said that Bob & Sons continues to see plenty of customers from the West Side, maintaining the neighborhood feel the business has had since its founding. Ian and Stacy have also worked to preserve the historical character of both buildings. Over the years, the business has expanded, adding a new service bay in the back and later incorporating what had been a separate business known as the Kelley Street Garage in 2019 when its operators decided to move on. This continued the tradition the two businesses had shared of assisting each other’s customers with specialized services and providing emergency support when one was closed for the day. Ian indicates that the future looks bright, and more anniversary celebrations could be on the horizon. “We don’t plan on selling or getting out of this business in the next 10 years, so a 70th-anniversary celebration is very attainable,” he said. “We’ve got the right people, great employees, strong support from the community and excellent infrastructure.” We want to wish Bob & Sons Automotive many more successful years of business and all the best in the future. Congratulations! This article was reworked and reutilized with permission from Manchester Ink Link. To read the original article by Andrew Sylvia, scan the QR code. https://manchester.inklink.news/ bob-and-sons-automotive-set-tocelebrate-60-years-in-business/ 24
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