WORCESTER – After nearly 95 years in business, Harding Tire Co. on Harding Street in Worcester’s Canal District closed its doors for good on Friday.
The automotive repair and wheel shop opened in 1928. Owners Deborah Feingold and Anne Mack took the business over after their father David Levy passed away in 2009.
Levy took the business over from his brother-in-law in 1952 and purchased the Harding Tire Co. building in 1963.
“My father was an extremely hard worker. He was down here all the time,” Feingold said.
In an interview with ThisWeekinWorcester.com early Monday morning, Feingold said Harding Tire Co. probably could have held on longer, but it was the right time to sell the property.
The building at 180 Harding St. — listed in city records as 20 Harrison St. — is being sold, along with a lot at 16 Harrison St. Feingold couldn’t disclose details of the deal other than they expect the deal to close at the end of this month. The building was constructed in 1925.
The three-story building has an assessed value of $334,900. The lot has an assessed value of $155,600.
Feingold said Harding Tire Co. has seen thousands upon thousands of people come and go over the years, including many from multiple generations of Worcester families. Even during Monday’s interview, Feingold had to turn down a pair of customers needing service.
“People were still coming in saying ‘I came in here with my father when I was five-years-old, now I’m bringing my son who just got his first car,’ so it has served generations,” Feingold said.
Harding Tire Co. specialized in tire sales and mounting tires, selling brands like Bridgestone, BF Goodrich, Michelin and many more. They also did brake repairs, battery replacement, alignments and other preventive services.
The tire shop has seen firsthand the development of the Canal District and the area surrounding Polar Park over the years.
“Before all this (development), I could have had my desk on Harding Street and not been hit by a car,” Feingold said jokingly. “But it’s full circle. Back in the early 1900s through the World War, everyone lived down here and worked down here.”
“It was a different era way back when, even before I came on. There were all locally owned tire places, family-owned. The tire business was different. People needed tires more often. So you saw customers regularly. Now when we sell a tire, we may not see our customers for three years unless there’s a problem or they get a new car,” Feingold added.
Feingold said even with the demand for new tires dropping over the years, Harding Tire Co. could continue to build up its customer base because of its excellent reputation and honest service.
Once the sale of the Harding Tire building is completed, Feingold plans to visit her son in Washington, D.C. and then take a well-earned vacation.
As of Monday morning, the Harding Tire building is all but cleared out, with stacks of tires waiting to be returned to distributors about the only things taking up space. Another local car repair shop purchased and removed Harding Tire’s equipment over the weekend.
As far as what might go in at the Harding Tire building, Feingold said, “It’s not going to be a tire place.”
Lead image: Harding Tire Co. on the corner of Harding Street and Harrison Street in Worcester/Patrick Sargent for ThisWeekinWorcester.com
