2010 Distributor of the Year Finalist
Jim Pascale (left) is president of Pascale Service Corporation, a business started by his father, Frank. Here, he and Mike Toye, the company’s parts manager, stand in the showroom of the their Pawtucket, R.I. headquarters.
I purchased the business from my father in 1970 and am the president of the company. We employ 20 people, including two outside salespeople. Our sales area is approximately a 30-mile radius from our single location. We cover all of Rhode Island, southern Massachusetts and parts of Connecticut. WHAT’S BEEN YOUR TOUGHEST BUSINESS DECISION? During the 1970s we were in the rebuilding business. We would rebuild transmissions, differentials, Cummins’ fuel systems, cylinder heads and reline brake shoes. When we first started in the rebuilding business there were not many quality competitors. Our advantage was that we had high quality rebuilt units. But as time went on we could see that the competitors were getting better and the manufacturers of the products were getting into the rebuilding business with good quality and lower prices. It was necessary to start lowering the prices of our products in order to compete. We decided to shut down the rebuilding operation in the beginning of the 1980s and started purchasing the items from others. It was a tough decision at the time. We had a lot of money invested in machinery, training and inventory. We then concentrated on developing more profitable business opportunities. In the long run, it was a good decision for us. WHAT WAS YOUR BEST BUSINESS DECISION? I think my best business decision was to become a member of
PASCALE SERVICE CORPORATION
In his words: James Pascale, Owner
WHY DID YOU START THE BUSINESS? My father, Frank Pascale, started the business because he wanted to earn a better living and wanted to be his own boss. He worked during the depression years and during World War II repairing vehicles. He was unable to enter the armed forces during the war as he lost an eye when he was 19 years old while repairing a vehicle on the family farm. He worked for various companies over the years repairing vehicles. He founded Pascale Garage in 1945 as an auto repair shop in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Soon after opening he began repairing trucks owned by his brother who had a number of trucks used in his brick business. Eventually the business specialized in the repair of trucks and diesel engines. In 1959, Pascale Garage became a parts and service dealer for International Trucks. This began our career in the heavy-duty parts business. We built a parts department and hired an outside salesperson to promote parts sales. Pascale Garage was the first company in our area to have outside parts salespeople in the all-makes truck parts business. We outgrew the original location and have moved four times. The last move was to our newly built, present location in 1966. After 11 days at this new location the building burned down. The fire started in the repair shop during the second shift on a Friday night. We moved back to our previous location that weekend and were open for business that Monday. The new building was repaired soon after and five additions have been added since. The company name was changed to Pascale Service Corporation in the mid ’70s to better describe the nature of our business.
Pascale Service Corporation moved to its present Pawtucket, R.I., location in 1966. Since then, they have expanded the facility five times.
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