Auto Repair, Tire and Mechanical Experts since 1955
When it comes to a car maintenance or buying new tires, Montrealers turn to Gordons for their professional staff, wide selection of tires and expertise in auto repair Montreal. Whether your car is in need of new tires, brakes, suspension or wheel alignment work, or a simple oil & filter change, you can count on our specialists to get you on your way fast!
History
In 1954, Bill Gordon, a lifetime Montrealer, had a revelation. After several years of working for a stockbroker, he realized that real money was to be made in the retail business. Good, hardworking hands-on business. With a $1500 loan from his Scottish grandmother he set out to become an entrepreneur.
Bill approached Sun Oil with an idea to open a service station at the corner of Cavendish and St. Jacques, at the time called Upper Lachine Road, which was the main route into downtown Montreal. When Gordons Sunoco opened it was a three bay building that provided typical gas station services. It didn’t take long for Bill’s theory about being in a high traffic location to pay off. Soon Bill was selling a lot of gasoline driven by customer service that started at the pump.
Always on the forefront of technical innovation, Bill purchased a wheel alignment machine that lead him to realize that when you remove the tires on a car, it opened up a whole world of repair and maintenance possibilities. So, seven years after he opened the station, he jumped into the tire business.
With the assistance of Sunoco in the 1960s, the building was expanded and 3 more bays were added. The tire business grew in leaps and bounds, driven by a huge demand for good value winter tires. For $8.50 at Gordons in 1960, you could get a quality recapped winter tire. To sell 300 recaps in a day was nothing.
With its huge gasoline volumes, burgeoning tire business and the resulting growth in engine and general repairs, Gordons was now the dominant player on the street and people were starting to take notice. It wasn’t long before Bill was approached by Goodyear who wanted to help expand Bill’s business even further by helping him build whatever he needed to sell Goodyear tires at his location.
Over the next two years, Bill’s dream service centre that focused on speedy service really began to take shape. Another expansion increased the number of bays to twelve all of which had electric doors.
Bill felt that a well-trained, well-paid person, who was given good, clean, working conditions and an opportunity to succeed, would become a loyal, valued employee and an understanding partner in his customer service ethic.
Gordons has always been a family affair. Bill’s wife Elizabeth did the books for 25 years and his retired father enjoyed helping out with customer service and traffic flow. In the 1990s Bill’s children Bruce and Heather began learning the business from the ground up.
When Gordons opened over 60 years ago, it was one of many service stations along the route to downtown Montreal, none of which are still there today. Gordons is now lead by Bill’s son Bruce Gordon who encourages you to visit Gordons to experience the family values that remain strongly intact in their business of making their customers happy.
