Our Story

In 1956 my father was working at the Goodyear Tire store on the Southside of Birmingham Alabama (which is still in operation today), he was offered an opportunity to open and manage a new Gulf gas station in 1957 in a newly formed city called Vestavia Hills. A suburb south of Birmingham, an area that has been commonly referred to as “Over the Mountain” for years, because of it’s proximity south of Red Mountain. That’s where I started working weekends and the summer of 1972. Learning and building my passion for the automobile industry along with relationships with some families still today. We owned and operated that Gulf station until late 1975 and in early 1976 we purchased a Texaco gas station just 2 doors south on Highway 31 of that Gulf station. While I was taking trade school classes in high school in 1978, I was working afternoons here and that’s where I started helping on the repair side of my family’s business. Picking up important lessons about quality, customer service and building a personal connection with our customers. I began working full time in 1980 and continued until 1990 when we lost our lease at Texaco. This is when my father decided to open a repair only shop called Pool’s Auto & Tire across the highway from the now closed Texaco. In 1996 I purchased the business at age 35 so my father could retire and started my journey as owner towards a continued commitment to customer service and dedication. Being an alternative choice for general repairs and choice to current industry pressures of the “over selling of service and repairs” and an advocate for my customers. We lost our lease there in 2001, I moved around over the next few years staying committed to my now smaller customer base, eventually ending back up in Vestavia Hills at a Shell gas station in 2007 across Hwy 31 from those two original gas stations where it all began. This is where I was able to build my business back up and a need to expand, I moved to Hoover in 2013 and again in 2016 to our current location in Pelham. We expanded once again in 2019 where I continue to serve my customers, some now on their forth generation. I don’t have a son to leave our legacy with but I do have a tech that has been a huge asset for our company. His name is Nick Gonzales and is the son of one of my best high school friends. I hope one day he’ll take over and continue our mission.