Selma Auto Supply Closing After 53 Years; Everything Marked 50% Off

Tony Garcia is winding down Selma Auto Supply after 53 years on East Front Street, marking "everything" in the store at least 50% off as he aims to sell the inventory before the shop closes at the end of April. The family-owned business opened in 1973 and has served local mechanics and drivers for generations.

Garcia, who has run the store since the 1970s, said he hopes to clear fixtures and parts and reconnect with longtime customers before moving out. "Hopefully I'll run across some of the guys that have been loyal customers and have coffee with them," he said. The liquidation covers car parts and machinery as well as store fixtures — windshield wipers, chair stools, countertops, cash registers and even old ledger books are part of the sale.

Longtime customer Jose Perez stopped by to look through the ledgers and recall visits with his father, who was a mechanic. "My dad used to come. He was a mechanic, so he had his heads turned. I would sit on the stool, looking at the books while they were doing business," Perez said as he flipped through the same paper ledgers that remain on a shelf even though the shop now keeps records on computers. Perez added of Garcia, "He did a great job. He was there for everybody...I learned a lot from him."

The store posted operating hours for the liquidation: Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will remain open through the end of April. Reports of the closure have described the business as a fixture in Selma for more than five decades; some accounts rounded the tenure to "50 years," but the shop's 1973 opening places its run at 53 years.

Sale pricing has been promoted as "50% off and more," with no publicized item-by-item price list; Garcia's stated aim is to sell as much as possible before vacating the East Front Street location. No definitive final day beyond "the end of April" has been announced and there are no public details about plans for the building after the store closes.

Neighbors and mechanics have been stopping in one last time to pick up parts, take home a memento or browse the remaining inventory. The liquidation offers practical opportunities for shoppers and a rare chance for Selma residents to collect pieces of a local business history that began in 1973 and reached its 53rd year this month.