Harris Garage will soon be six times larger once owners Bob and Vincent Harris complete the finishing touches on the old Chevy dealership building they recently purchased to expand their auto repair services.
The father and son duo bought the 235 Roosevelt Ave. building in October with plans to expand into the 9,700-square-foot-space, which is more than six times the square footage of their current location of 1,500 square feet.
The expansion will bring a sense of positive growth to the business that has operated out of the same building for over thirty years.
“Being the third generation Harris to own and operate Harris Garage is a great privilege and honor,” said Vincent. “To see where it first started on Second Avenue in Pocatello to my dad opening up shop in American Falls in the ’80s and now me taking it over and working alongside my father and youngest son is beyond words. With this expansion we will be able to provide a faster service and turnaround rate to our customers.”
The new space gives them ample room to install five hoists and sprawl out, and Vincent explained they’ve already made quick headway on prepping both the building and the lot for the expansion.
He expects they’ll be operating out of the new shop in a few short weeks.
Ever since the early ’50s, four generations of Harrises have worked at their namesake’s auto repair shop. Bob’s father John opened the first Harris Garage on Second Avenue in Pocatello and tinkered on engines up until 1965 when he closed it to man the city’s waste services. John and Margaret Harris had 12 children, with Bob being the fourth.
He would later jumpstart the business back up in 1988 in American Falls, and since then has not just been servicing the community’s cars and trucks but also passing down knowledge of his mechanic expertise to his son, Vincent, and grandson, Landon.
“I think one day…he’ll take over (the shop),” Vincent said about his son, Landon. “He loves it. He has a natural talent and he works with (my) dad, so Dad is teaching him and training him and so he’s getting 50 years’ worth of talent and not just on new cars. He’s learning about old (cars) too. So he’ll be a great asset down the road.”
Vincent himself has brought mechanical expertise to Power County since he joined his father at the garage in 2018. He previously worked for the army as a diesel mechanic, and the year he began working at Harris Garage was the year the business began seeing an influx of work that has kept them on their toes ever since.
Thankfully, the expansion will help alleviate the workload by giving all three generations of Harrises plenty of elbow room to work on numerous vehicles at once.
“I like all of it,” said Vincent about the work. “It’s frustrating, but being able to tear something down and put it back together and have it drive out is pretty satisfying.”