Decades of service
Mark Pinkus, owner and operator of Pinkus Tire in Williamsburg, is going to be retiring next month, ending the 71 years of dedicated service from the business. Jason Bourgon of Ingleside’s Jay’s Auto Repair, bought the property to move his operation to a better location with paved parking lots and a waiting room. Glover photo

WILLIAMSBURG – After 71 years of providing the residents of Dundas County with quality tire service for both recreational and agricultural use, Pinkus Tire will be officially closing its doors Fri., May 3.

“Well, I just figured that it’s time for me to retire,” said Mark Pinkus, owner of Pinkus Tire. “I’ve sold the property, but I wasn’t able to sell the business, so I sold the property to someone in a similar business and I believe he’s going to start up here sometime after July 1.”

Jason Bourgon, owner and operator of Jay’s Auto Repair with his wife, Carol, bought the property from Pinkus to move their business from Ingleside to Williamsburg.

“The deal is not 100 per cent done and official yet as I don’t get the key until July 3,” said Jason. “We’re planning on doing his [Pinkus’] tires and moving my business into the property. I have the garage, Jay’s Repairs, in Ingleside and we’re planning on continuing on with Mark’s tire sales and moving my repair shop into it.”

Jason plans to move his whole operation out of Ingleside to Williamsburg because he wants to own his business instead of renting.

“We only rent here, business is good in Ingleside but we have a gravel parking lot and no waiting room,” he said. “Basically, we’re moving because we want to serve our customers better. We have more room at this location and it’ll be nice to have a paved parking lot again.”

Jason hopes to have his new location up and running sometime between July and August.

Pinkus Tire has been a large part of Pinkus’ life for many years, even as a young man growing up. Pinkus’s father started the shop as a family business and he has been running it like a well-oiled machine for the past 35 years.

“This has been my whole life, even in the summers as a kid,” he said. “It’s been about 35 years that I’ve been here full time. It was a family business that my father started many years ago.

Pinkus was very surprised by the community’s reaction to his decision to retire, with their appreciation of his many dedicated years of service and wishing him well in his next adventures.

“I’m going to miss the customers,” he said. “I’ve been surprised by how many customers have come in to wish me well, telling me they were going to miss me. So, I didn’t realize that until now about how much people appreciate the service. So, I’m definitely going to miss the customers.”