AT PEARSON’S AUTO SERVICE CENTER — Brothers Raleigh (left) and Coy Pearson (right) began their auto service business in late 1967 in downtown Taylorsville. After nearly 55 years in business, the two are retiring to let the next generation take over the family legacy.
By MICAH HENRY
Whether it was a car or truck or some other vehicle, all types have passed through the bays of Pearson’s Automotive in the long tenure of brothers Raleigh and Coy Pearson.
The two brothers had about three years prior experience running a service station in Catawba County for a friend when they started out in business for themselves here in Taylorsville on December 18, 1967. That’s when they opened shop in the old Esso gas station across from Hotel Alexandria on East Main Avenue. Through two subsequent location changes, the brothers added more services and eventually grew the business into the auto service center which many local motorists rely on today.
Raleigh, 79, recalls that he and his brother operated the Esso station for about eight years (now called GK Food Mart).
Their first customer was a Volkswagen driver who bought $1.65 worth of gasoline.
It wasn’t easy in the early years. There was a lot of service station competition and the Esso station had been closed a while before the brothers reopened it.
“There wasn’t a nickel’s worth of business,” Raleigh recalled. “There were seven full-service stations, counting the car dealers, downtown when we started — one on…
