As I was riding by some local businesses on the main bypass for our little town, I spotted one of those advertising signs where you can change the letters to spell out whatever you wish. You know the ones; they usually have irregular spacing between the letters, and some of the letters are sitting crooked, and occasionally the letters are of various colors.
Well, what caught my eye was the following message:
GLUTEN FREE
OIL CHANGES
OIL CHANGES
Now that is something every tree-hugging, advocate of living
healthy would go for, I think. Perhaps
this is a new way to purge the body of all those toxins that they say build up
in there.
Well, I squeezed the lever and pressed the pedal for the
binders and down shifted as I entered the parking lot of the establishment to
see what this is about.
What I saw was not some healthy-living store, but an auto
salvage yard. It says this is Monty’s
Used Auto Parts, according to the sign on the building or Monty’s Auto Parts, Service,
Auto Sales, as it says above the sign advertising the healthy oil change out in
front.
See for yourself:
Obviously I have been mistaken about something here.
I motored up to the building, shut down the mill, and
dismounted. I shucked off my gloves,
extracted my noggin’ from the helmet, plucked out my ear plugs, and went in the
front door. I noted that the outside of
the building seemed to be pretty well kept considering that this is not the
cleanest or most orderly type of business there is.
There were two guys behind the counter, a young man and an
older one. The young man greeted me and
asked if he could help me. I told him
I was Bucky and asked him who thought up the sign out front. He admitted, a bit sheepishly, that it was
he who had done so.
He hastened to say that there really is no such thing as oil
with or without gluten in it, and no, it is not some new medical
treatment.
Well, now we had those things out of the way.
The inside of the building was similarly surprisingly neat. I have seen some places like this where you
have to rise onto your toes to talk with the man behind the counter because of
all the stuff piled there. Not so here. There were a few parts on the counter, but not many.
The young man took a customer, so I addressed myself to the
older man.
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| Monty Smith, Jr. |
It turns out that he is the owner, one Monty Smith, Jr. His father ‑‑ Monty Smith ‑‑ opened the
doors of the business around 1964, and it has been in the family ever since
then. The young man I had been talking to at first is Mr. Smith’s
grandson Monty Preston Smith. He goes
by Preston. The elder Mr. Smith’s son
Monty E. Smith is also part of the business, but I didn’t meet him today.
Quite a good name for their business, I observe: Monty’s.
Now stop and think for a minute. Here I am, riding in on a motorcycle, and dressed like it, asking
all these questions out of the blue about their business. I think I noted a slight look of curiosity
about this situation in their eyes and I heard it in their voices.
After we chewed the fat a little, and I had explained
a bit more about me and why I am out riding around looking at scenery and
things like their shop, they seemed to settle into a comfort zone. Both of the men were very polite and
patiently answered my prying questions.
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| Preston and Monty Smith, Jr. |
Monty, Jr. made it a point to say that this is, indeed, a
family business, as I had noted by the two men before me today. They try to give better service than their
competitors, and those competitors can be around the corner or on the other
side of the continent these days. He
also stressed that if a lady walks in, she is treated with the respect due her
as a woman.
I imagine there are lots of places like this where that
might not be so much the case.
Mr. Smith, Jr. also said that his is a tough business to be
in not only because of that competition, but because finding good people who
can identify parts correctly and properly remove them from a vehicle without
damaging other components is difficult nowadays.
They mostly buy cars at online auctions now, not seeing them
in person until they arrive on a truck.
That means that they never really know what they are getting until it
shows up. It also means that there are
thousands of possible bidders in competition with them.
He said that there was a day when they only handled U.S.-built cars, but
they long ago realized that they must cover imports as well. And so they do. Nothing in the BMW, Mercedes or higher range, though.
They have a tiny foreign car up on a rack outside, also to attract
attention. It is a Honda 600 sedan from
the early 1970s. It is in bad shape,
but I expect that it does attract the eyes of passersby.
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| Here and here are some links about this model vehicle. |
Mr. Smith, Jr. also said that the Great Recession cut their
sales for salvage parts about in half.
It was at that time that they decided to add a couple of mechanics to do
service. Thus, among other things, the need for that oil change sign out
front.
I’m afraid I don’t need an oil change today, since I
recently did one on the bike. They don’t work on
motorcycles anyway.
They say that they are making a real effort to be community
friendly by donating 10% of their net profit to charitable organizations. Not many businesses do that, certainly. Admirable.
Now that I have met these fellows, I think
I would consider them if I needed something for my cars in the future.
Meanwhile, here is their contact information if you need to do some shopping:
4104 Calhoun Memorial Highway
Easley, SC 29640
864-269-3461 or 800-822-9003
Well, that sign was certainly an odd sight that attracted my attention, but now we know the story
behind it. Sounds like a nice family of conscientious people.
Look for other odd sights I’ve seen by clicking on the "odd sights" link in the left column of this page.
Look for other odd sights I’ve seen by clicking on the "odd sights" link in the left column of this page.
Hmmm. I wonder what
young Preston will put up on the sign next.
I’ll certainly be watching.
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