Watkins Spring--100 years of work, horse shoes to auto service

Congratulations on 100 Years.

Watkins Spring Company Inc. has been tending to your transportation since the 1890's when the crew was fixing horse shoes. Today, the business tends less to equine and more to align, offering front end service as well as springs and brakes for both cars and trucks. This year, Watkins celebrates 100 years in business--at the same location on Central, and even though the business has expanded over the years, the original blacksmith shop that started it all remains open and working.

The garage and parts store has built out in both directions from the original blacksmith shop, and it would take someone with know-how to lead you through the maze of garages that sit headquartered at 368 Central. Luckily, second-generation owner, Thomas Kingston has agreed to lead me through and tell me about his family's landmark business.

Watkins Spring Company was run by the Watkins family from 1908 until the early 1950s. Then, Owen Watkins, son of the founder, went into business with Samuel Kingston, Kingston's father. Samuel ran the business until his death in 1975. His son, Kingston has run the business since then.

"I never wanted to do anything else," he tells me of his decision to go into the family business.
Kingston grew up in these garages, and pedaled his bike up and down the Avenue to retrieve parts for his father and the other mechanics in the shop. In those days, Watkins Spring was in the center of Albany's automobile corridor, with dealerships and garages located on every block. Kingston recites the names that have all disappeared or moved away, DeNooyer Chevrolet, Windows Pontiac, and the list goes on. Today, Kingston said, many of those dealerships have closed or moved further up Central, but his shop is still going strong, doing as many as 20 alignments a day and working with many well-known entities including the City of Albany, Rotterdam, Halfmoon, Colonie Central School District, University at Albany, and the New York State Police.

Kingston's customers are loyal, and much of the business is word-of-mouth, he said. "We try to specialize in just a few things and really do them right," Kingston said.

Kingston leads me through his business with evident pride. The shop was at a busy hum, with mechanics moving trucks in and out of the alley behind the shop, and scrambling down into galleys beneath the cars. In the blacksmith shop, a mechanic is hard at work at ancient equipment. The shop doesn't manufacture as many parts anymore, but they do some, mostly for antique cars and trucks, Kingston said. Past the blacksmith shop is a storage area filled with springs. Watkins Spring caters to every kind of vehicle, from school buses to Cadillacs. The springs look like skis, varying in length and thickness and stacked sideways in racks. Kingston pulls a thick wedge of metal forward. It looks more like a fender than a spring. This is for a bigger rig, he says, something like a garbage truck. While further down the line, there are more delicate springs--delicate by comparison, that is. These are for smaller vehicles, he says, like jeeps.

Past the spring storage room, is another storage room, then the parts shop, then we emerge on Central half a block away from where we entered. Watkins extends from 368-372 Central, skirting the VFW. Parking lots abut the shop at each end.

We return to the front reception area, where Kingston's daughter Reagan runs the office, but on the way, we make a stop at the mural that's become a city landmark. The two-story bear has decorated the side of the VFW for 50 years, Kingston said, and has become a point of reference for people. "They say, 'Oh, by the bear?'" The smiling grizzly was part of a logo for Bear Alignment, a top-rate alignment system in the 1950s, and Kingston's father had the mural painting on the building to show that they used their products. The brand is now defunct, but the bear remains in its place of honor, greeting customers for the last half-century.

Back in the reception area, surrounded by historic photographs of Central Avenue, Kingston considered the business's longevity. The key to the business's long-term success is customer care, he said. "We got people who know what they're doing and they do it well." Kingston stresses that he also takes good care of his 16 employees, many of whom have been there for 20 years or more and have built a rapport with customers--and cars.

"They might forget the customers' name, but they remember what kind of car they drive," Reagan said. This makes customers feel comfortable with them. "Customers like to see the same faces," she said.

Francis Walter has been bringing his vehicles to Watkins Spring for 28 years. "I am absolutely confident in the work they go and the fairness of the price," he said. "They can handle any vehicle, and they know me. That's a nice added benefit."

The Central Avenue spot remains a good location for the business, he said, but parking remains an issue. Right now, vehicles waiting for repair are parked in the alley behind the shop, but sometimes the business is pressed for space, he said. Kingston wants to talk with surrounding businesses about how to negotiate the crunch.

Overall, Kingston is confident that the business will stick around for a long time to come. "We want to continue to grow," he said. Someday, he plans to pass the business on to one of his children or grandchildren, but he refuses to speculate too much about what the future holds, allowing that he's got plenty of time to decide. "That's some years away."

For now, Kingston plans to keep doing what he's been doing since he was a kid--fixing vehicles. Kingston puts in 14 hour days at this garage, cramming two lifetimes of work into these 10 bays, and he's still going strong.

"I still enjoy it," Kingston said.