The Flowers
A new business was opening and one of
the owner’s friends wanted to send flowers for the occasion. They arrived at
the new business site and the owner read the card; it said “Rest in Peace”. The
owner was angry and called the florist to complain. After he had told the
florist of the obvious mistake and how angry he was, the florist said. “Sir, I’m
really sorry for the mistake, but rather than getting angry you should imagine
this: somewhere there is a funeral taking place today, and they have flowers
with a note saying, “Congratulations on your new location!”
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August 1, 1995 was a big day for us! That was the first day we hung out our
shingle and opened for business as Holzhauser’s Foreign Car Service on Rts. 136
and 543. Let me back up a bit.
We moved to Harford County in 1990. Our son was a year and a half. Joe was working at a shop in Essex and I was
working in Towson at a law firm. My
parents watched our son and we commuted to work every day, pretty much like
most Harford County folks did. In 1992,
our daughter was born. I transferred to
the law firm’s downtown office and Joe took both of our kids to my parents’
house. Every day it was out of the house
at 6:45 a.m., home at 6:00 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m., kids in bed at 7:30 to
8:00 p.m. and mom and dad not long after!
Joe always had the idea of owning his own business that was
close to home. Fortunately, a garage not
too far from our house had an open lease for August 1, 1995. We pooled all of our resources, got Joe’s
brother on board as a technician, decided that I should continue working at the
law firm (hoping that one steady income would support us while we built up the
business) and cleaned up the building to give it a fresh appearance to attract
customers.
I remember how exciting it was that first day – Joe’s sister
and I were still painting the office when a gentleman pulled up in a little red
convertible Mercedes and asked if we could fix a flat tire! What??? A flat tire? Of course we could! After that initial customer, who continued to
patronize us until he passed away about 12 years ago, we knew we could do this.
With Joe’s expertise in auto repair (especially air cooled
Beetles) and his brother’s help, we began to have a steady stream of
customers. In 1997, I was able to quit
my job at the law firm and join Joe in the business. We made a great team – he remembered the
cars and what was done to them and I remembered names and addresses of
customers.
In 2006, we purchased the property on Route 40. In 2007 we started construction on the
building and on Labor Day Weekend, we opened the doors and renamed our business
Holzhauser’s Auto Service.
We have built many friendships and relationships over the
years and we believe we have the best customer’s in town! Of course we have had our ups and downs but
through perseverance and the right team, we continue to build our business.
I am proud to say that we still have some of the same
customers from our first year in business but, whether you are a new or old
customer, you are important to us and we appreciate your business!.
Keep checking our blog for the latest news and tips from
Holzhauser’s Auto!
