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There is a little business right in the the center of
downtown Gleason
that touches our hearts. It's name is J&P Car Care and it
represents one of the major landmarks of
downtown Gleason,
having now been in business at the corner of Cedar and Main for well
over half a century.
While the focus of this
business has always been on meeting the automotive service needs of
the Gleason community, most days it also serves as a comfortable
place for any number of town folks to get together and catch up on
the latest local news, perhaps share a joke or two, or just
chat with friends. In talking with the owner, Mr.
Johnny Lowery, he notes that sometimes there are so
many spinning yarns with their buddies that it is hard to even get
to the cash register.
If you need a tire changed, need directions to get
where you are going or maybe just some advice regarding your car, J&P Car Care is the place to
go. And, J&P Car Care may well be one of the few places around West
Tennessee where they will still pump your gas for you, if needed.
Since it's early beginnings, in the 1940’s or 50’s, it has always been a
full service gas station, a relic most do not see today. It is an
Exxon distributor where one can get gas, diesel fuel, tires,
batteries, antifreeze, and your oil changed. While there have been
a number of service stations
in Gleason over the years, J&P Car Care is the longest
survivor.
Coy Black was the original owner but was sadly killed
in a wrecker accident. At that time. two of his employees, Willie B. Upchurch and
Junior Watts, took over the business. Charles Belew worked for all
three until he eventually took over the business around the late
70’s. Charles Belew says that he remembers the station providing auto services for the local clay companies and employing up to 12-15 people
on Saturdays, thus providing more jobs for the community.
Photo Courtesy of Diane Black Mayo
In May of 1991, Johnny Lowery of Gleason bought the
business. Mr. Johnny had been working for Mr. Belew off and on from
the age of 16 and gives a lot of credit to Mr. Paul Stewart for helping him get
started.
Just 6 months after Mr. Lowery bought J&P Car Care, the
building burned. Thankfully, it was not completely destroyed and could
still be salvaged. This was not a stopping point for Mr. Lowery; he
continued to work while rebuilding the place.
Now Mr. Lowery works side by side with his
only full-time employee, Micah Bailey. They are compassionate people
that will help you in fair or bad weather, whether it involves jump
starting your car or coming and changing your tire when you are not
in the vicinity of the service station.
J&P Car Care is open from 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on
Monday through Friday, and 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.
J&P Car
Care strives to makes time for the people they serve in order to
meet their individual car-care needs. They are truly a "Hometown Kind of
Business" that tries to make it easy for those in the Gleason
community to decide to "Shop Local" when they are in need of
automotive services.
Among all the vestiges that
Gleason has to offer, J&P Car Care is definitely at the top.
Story by
Rachel
Hughey and Kay Hudson
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