Sometimes things do happen in threes, which is the case this
year when a trio of Hollister businesses have celebrated their
100th anniversaries. Another, meanwhile, is turning 100 under its
current name.
Sometimes things do happen in threes, which is the case this year when a trio of Hollister businesses have celebrated their 100th anniversaries. Another, meanwhile, is turning 100 under its current name.
It isn’t every year one business achieves such an impressive milestone, let alone three of them. Tiffany Ford, Muenzer’s Cyclery and Sports Center, and Winn Insurance all were founded in 1910. McKinnon Lumber is the business that has been operating under that name for 100 years as well, while there was a lumber yard there previously called A.P. Boyd, according to McKinnon’s owner, John Barrett.
For Bob Tiffany at the local Ford dealership, the year has offered an opportunity to have some fun with the milestone and invite the public to get involved through monthly events he has held.
January was Model T month. The business had a dozen Model Ts on the showroom floor for more than a month, and invited the public to an event, to which residents brought about 50 of the vintage cars to town. February was dedicated to the Model A – Tiffany followed the same tack with the showcased cars and public gathering – while the business plans to dedicate next month to Mustangs.
“I know there will be a big turnout because everyone loves Mustangs,” he said.
Though the events are scheduled throughout the year, Tiffany Ford’s official anniversary is April 22.
The year also gives Tiffany a chance to reflect on the fourth-generation family business, located at its San Felipe Road location the past 11 years but previously also operating from 335 Fourth St., 325 San Benito St., and then in 1935 at 800 San Benito St.
Tiffany recalled a couple of stories about the earliest days of the business. His grandfather had told him how he and his father – Tiffany’s great-grandfather whom he never met – used to routinely deliver the new Model Ts to a ranch or farm.
“They would sometimes spend a day there teaching the whole family how to drive,” he said. “You can imagine times are a little different.”
He also noted how the business at one time took in horses on trade. Tiffany Ford took in a particular horse one night while a man was checking out a Model T.
“I guess, I don’t know if the deal fell through – overnight, the horse died,” Tiffany said. “That’s obviously one thing that’s changed in our business.”
The business of change
A lot has changed for the other businesses as well. At McKinnon Lumber, one of the biggest changes has been the actual size of the yard. It was split in half in 1910 when Archibald D. McKinnon bought the lot. Before that, it had covered the entire block between Seventh and South streets. Its variety of offerings, as with many longtime businesses, also has expanded quite a bit.
“Back in the early days, it was strictly lumber,” he said, noting how that product line has diversified.
His family’s involvement started in 1972, when his uncle, Marion Magladry, bought the business.
“We have a variety of lumber and hardware and just cater to everybody, contractors as well as homeowners,” Barrett said. “We have an old customer base because a lot of the families, they’ve been coming here for generations.”
Muenzer’s is another business that has learned to adapt with the times, but the owner credits a lot of its success in staying open so long to community support. Jerry Muenzer called it “paramount.”
“We never would’ve reached 100 without the support of the community,” he said.
Muenzer’s family got involved in the sporting goods business in 1910, when his grandfather bought a second-hand bicycle shop and changed it to carry new items, and with a lot more variation, including a large emphasis on toys and hobbies in those early years.
“He had model airplanes hanging from the ceiling,” Muenzer said.
The family added such products as those for hunting and fishing, and then locksmithing as well. At one time the family had a partnership with another co-owner, but that broke off in the 1940s, he said. His father got involved in the late 1950s when an uncle who had been set to take over the business passed away.
Though the business moved around a bit in its early years, it was at 211 Fifth St. for around two decades before moving into the current location at 221 Fifth St.
“It’s something our family is very proud of,” Muenzer said, of the 100-year celebration.
For Don Winn at Winn Insurance, meanwhile, the 100th anniversary is more than a symbol. It is a year of transition, with the announcement recently that Illinois-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. acquired the business.
Winn was a fourth-generation owner, but recently the business was acquired by the larger company, which has operations in 15 countries.
“I’m very proud of what we’ve done, who we are,” said Winn, who remains in the company’s plan as overseer of the local office, after announcing in February he was considering the deal.
Winn, whose father died in 2004, had noted how he was 50 years old with no kids, and that he planned to work another 10 or 15 years.
Said Gallagher & Co. in a statement: “For over a century, Winn & Company has developed an excellent reputation for delivering the highest quality, cost effective insurance solutions to their customers.”
