Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009

Perry auto business expands to Winchester

by Kenneth Lassiter

Dustin Cox, owner of the newest business venture in Winchester, approached the expansion of his auto service business in a calculated way, so even though the newest Standard Tire and Auto location was still a work in progress late last week, Cox feels good about the opportunity.

Photo by Kenneth Lassiter

Dustin Cox and Robin Robertson, right, of Standard Tire and Auto.

Cox opened Standard Tire and
Auto in Perry four years ago after growing up in Lecompton and graduating from Perry-
Lecompton High School. He
now lives in Perry. When he
first opened his business, he
had an eye on eventually
expanding and, after braving
the economic waters for the
last few years, that opportunity finally presented itself in
Winchester.

The new Standard Tire and Auto will sit at 302 Third Street in Winchester, just south of Erhart Enterprises in a building owned by Alvin Erhart. Cox and Robin Robertson, who will oversee the daily operations in Winchester, were busy getting equipment in place Oct. 1 in preparation to open for business Monday. A grand opening reception and ribbon cutting for the business is set for noon Friday.

Cox, who will split time between the Perry and Winchester shops, said he will keep three full-timers in Perry and plans to have two full-timers in Winchester. Robertson lives in Oskaloosa but has family ties in the Winchester area so said he was enthusiastic about making the move north to oversee the new shop.

Cox said the search for a new location was done with the aid of Anna Glynn-Hurla of First State Bank and Trust in Perry and county economic development director Jim McGrath. Cox had known Alvin Erhart and the Winchester opportunity came about.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do since I opened the first location,” Cox said. “Everything just fell right into place. Just about the time we started doing real well in Perry, the economy went south, so we made some adjustments. The way I looked at it, there’s no better time to expand then right now.”

The deal was hashed out quickly in September and Cox has had the last month to work with the space. He is still planning more work on the office portion of the business and expected the equipment to be set up as needed to open Monday. He plans to expand north to another work bay soon at the location. The business will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with Saturday hours through the winter.

Standard Tire and Auto services tires plus does both light and heavy mechanical work on all types of vehicles. “Anything with an engine” according to Cox. He learned the ropes of the business while working in his parents’ automotive shop in Lawrence and agreed with Robertson, who is a certified master technician, that the work is just something that’s in the blood, so to speak.

“I grew up in this business, so I don’t know any different. We’re very excited about being up here,” Cox said. “We wanted to open a place and have the setup like in Perry where you get to know the customer. We want to get involved in the community. We do a lot of stuff to promote the school in Perry and we want to do the same up here. So far everybody I’ve met, I’ve liked.”