The Flowers

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!