Another longtime Needham business will soon be changing hands — but not closing. Center Automotive on Hillside Avenue is being sold to VIP Tires and Service, a privately owned company that operates more than 70 stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.
After 44 years, “Paul (partner Paul Gardner) and I are retiring,” said co-owner Jim O’Brien. “The business will continue on, and I think it’s going to be in very good hands.”
VIP is based in Auburn, Maine. It was bought in 2001 by John Quirk, a third-generation member of the family behind the former Quirk Tire Co. in Watertown.
“We’re so excited to be in Needham,” said Quirk. “We plan to keep delivering great service just as Jim and Paul have done for years and years. They’re wonderful people who’ve built a good business.”
Quirk said VIP will expand the shop’s tire offerings, in addition to investing in some new equipment and offering additional training for Center employees. He said the store will be co-branded, retaining Center Automotive in its name for several years. “They have great brand equity,” Quirk said.
“He runs a good ship,” said O’Brien, “They’re keeping all our employees, keeping all the benefits. They’ll get some better health insurance.”
Center Automotive was first located on Great Plain Avenue next to the Post Office before moving to its current location in 1999. In addition to selling tires, it has done maintenance and repairs for hundreds of residential customers and commercial accounts.
One of Center Automotive’s commercial customers is Needham’s WCVB-TV, Channel 5. “We’ve done all their work for 44 years,” O’Brien said.
Closing date for the sale is Oct. 1. The Needham store and another location scheduled to open the same day on the South Shore will be VIP’s 71st and 72nd, said Quirk.
Word of the sale has been getting around. “May you have a long and healthy retirement,” said a couple who stopped by with two plates of cookies Tuesday afternoon.
O’Brien, 72, figures he and Gardner, 66, will stay on for a few weeks to help with the transition. Neither has any immediate plans for retirement.
“I’m going to let the dust settle — I’ve got a few options — and see what happens,” O’Brien said. “I don’t want to make any bad choices.”
Save as PDF