Bob & Sons Automotive set to celebrate 60 years in business
This week, there will be a party on the West Side that’s been decades in the making.
MANCHESTER, N.H. – This week, there will be a party on the West Side that’s been decades in the making.
On Wednesday Sept. 18, Bob and Sons Automotive on Kelley Street is holding a celebration to celebrate its 60th year in business. Robert Poirier had enjoyed being around cars for much of his life, eventually finding employment at a Texaco station in the 1950s that he eventually purchased and transformed into the beginning of the current day company in 1964 along with his partner, Aime Brunelle.
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 at the business in 1983 and the business transformed into Bob and Sons Automotive in 1988.
Today, the business is run by Robert’s grandson Ian and his wife Stacy, officially purchasing the business from their elders in 2023. Ian went to college at Penn State but returned home to become a co-operator of the business in 2012. Life on the West Side was nothing new for Ian after a childhood learning how to swim at DuPont pool and climbing Rock Rimmon and playing baseball around town in addition to helping his family at the garage with various tasks.
Ian says that Bob and Sons also still sees plenty of customers from the West Side, continuing the neighborhood feel of the business it’s held since its establishment. Indeed, Ian and Stacy have tried to maintain the historical character of both buildings.
Over the years, the business has expanded, adding a new service bay in the back and then expanding into what had been a separate business known as the Kelley Street Garage in 2019 when its operators decided to move on, continuing the tradition that the two businesses once had where they would aid each other’s customers with certain automotive specializations and provided emergency service for each other’s customers when one or the other business was closed for a day.
And with that expansion, there’s been an expansion of clientele beyond just West Siders as folks from nearby towns and others driving down Kelley Street to get to other parts of Manchester seeing the business and stopping in.
Ian says that future expansion may be in the works as well as future anniversary parties could be in the cards.
“We don’t plan on selling or getting out of this business in the next 10 years, so a 70th anniversary celebration is very obtainable,” he said. “We’ve got the right people, we’ve got great employees, we’ve got great support from the community and we’ve got great infrastructure.”
Wednesday’s celebration will take place from 3 to 6 p.m. at the shop (321 Kelley St.), with food trucks, music, time capsules and more.
More information on the event can be found on Bob and Son’s Facebook page.
