A Family Business, Still Turning Wrenches After Nearly Four Decades

Originally published in the New Pine Plains Herald. Photo by Ava Battinelli

Tucked beside Seymour Smith Intermediate Learning Center, Factory Lane Auto Repair is a block away from the center of Pine Plains, but the auto repair shop’s strong, generational bond with the community keeps the family business alive. 

“We are as busy as we can possibly be,” said founder and owner Dominick Calabro. “You sort of rely on that long history of people coming back. Some of my customers are third generation at this point.”

Calabro started the business in 1987, when he bought the building on Factory Lane. His plan was to get it going, then eventually sell. Instead, he has expanded, adding another garage on the property. Now, 37 years and a family later, the shop is thriving.

“I’ve been interested in cars since as long as I can remember, as far back as when I had Hot Wheels,” said Calabro, whose parents were in the trucking business in Poughkeepsie. “I would break them apart and see how they were put together. It drove my parents nuts. I used to take apart toasters and washing machines. Anything I can get my hands on, I’d take apart.”

While Calabro still gets his hands dirty every so often, most of his responsibilities lie in the office and management work. His wife, Naomi, handles taxes, banking, and inventory. Their older son, Chris, is the service writer and runs the front desk, while his brother, Peter, oversees the shop. 

“Peter has literally been here literally since birth: He was born on a Friday, he was here on a Monday,” Dominick said with a laugh.

Mike Griskauskas is the head mechanic and a friend of Calabro’s, Keith Jones, works in the garage about two days a week.

“Growing up here, I gained an interest [in cars] and it’s a good profitable business that helps people out in town,” Chris said. “It’s really just helping out the community. We’re so busy here and we don’t even advertise, other than the Main Street magazine. Since we’ve been here for so long and Dad’s known all the people, it’s pretty much a built-in business.”

A similar mindset of helping out extends to how the family works together: “We get along fine, and we all have common goals,” Dominick said. “Of course we have disagreements and differences of opinions, but we work it out,” Chris acknowledged that while working with his family can get old at times, he misses it when he’s away.

The family’s passion for cars doesn’t just stop at repairs: “Our family has raced any form of race car from me, my father, his father and my great grandfather — so, for generations,” said Chris. With experience in dirt track racing, road racing, drag racing, and off-road/desert racing, the family has earned a Hall of Fame plaque from the Hudson Valley Historical Racing Committee in 2021, which hangs in the office.

Shops similar to Factory Lane Automotive have come and gone throughout the years. Still, Calabro never sees this as competition: “If a new guy comes in, I’ll meet him, and just offer my help and assistance if I can, and just let him know that if he needs help, he can come ask me.”

Regular Factory Lane customers will just drive up and drop off their keys when they need service — a much simpler process than at a car dealership. “You go in, it’s a big thing, you have to sign in, there are clipboards, and then they try to sell you everything they can, and then take your keys,” said Dominick. “Not here. We just do what we gotta do.”

Stanfordville resident Matt Salvia has been going to Factory Lane for car services for over 30 years. “I’ve known Dominick forever, and they’re great people,” he said. “They’re trustworthy, they do great work, and I wouldn’t think of going anywhere else.”

Of course, there are challenges. Dominick said that Factory Lane services about 10 vehicles a day, five days a week. “This isn’t like a convenience store,” he added. “A car could pull up right now and change our whole day. One car. If it was an emergency, then we would have to shuffle around our day.”

According to the family, problems also arise with parts, tools,  information, and customers, which especially peaked during COVID. Shipping issues continue to this day. “A car that would normally be done in a day might take a week, waiting for some little part that you see in stock,” Dominick explained. 

While the Calabros plan to have Peter and Chris take over one day, Dominick, 61, doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon.

“There are new adventures every week,” he said. “It’s a challenging business, but it’s always busy, and I think if we just continue to do the right thing for people, it’ll stay busy.”