STOCKTON – Stockton Auto Glass founder Ted Bregman can count more reasons to celebrate than can most folks: 85 years of living and 60 years in business.
Add to that the dozens of family members, friends, employees and business associates that on Wednesday crowded the auto-glass repair shop at 345 N. Wilson Way to celebrate those milestones and the values underlying them.
“He doesn’t have a college education. He’s a self-made man. He’s not corporate America,” said Bregman’s daughter, Sharon Harless.
Years of immersion in the workings of the auto-glass industry have settled into Bregman: His large hands are roughened from years of cutting, polishing and installing panes, and he can pull from memory the windshield numbers of just about every old car.
Two decades beyond traditional retirement age, Bregman still shows up for work each morning, checking on the jobs lined up in the shop and greeting customers with a cup of coffee and a joke or a story.
On Wednesday, he told the tale of a woman who left her keys in his hand and her car parked between his garage and what used to be an auto-paint shop next door.
“When she came to pick it up, she said, ‘You didn’t paint my car, you put a windshield in it,’ ” Bregman recalled with a wide smile.
Then, before health concerns slowed his pace, Bregman rarely worked from 8 to 5.
“Ted and I went to work every morning and left work every night at the same time – early and late,” said Ben Porres, a shop manager for the company for 15 years before his retirement.
But Bregman would often be called back after hours: For years, his home phone number was included in the business’s yellow pages listing.
Bregman’s son, Gary, remembered one of his father’s late-night work-related escapades.
“Dad went down to the shop by himself to make a middle-of-the-night emergency repair on a truck. He fell from the scaffolding, broke several ribs, climbed back up and finished the repair and then drove himself to the hospital,” he said.
Bregman’s commitment to customer service – even through numerous surgeries and illnesses, including cancer and the death of his wife, Florence – set the standard for employees.
“Ted has been a hands-on example of how this company started and how it runs,” said Kent Solomon, an employee for nearly 29 years.
This attitude also won the loyalty of customers.
“I refer people on a regular basis, knowing they will be well taken care of,” said John Larson, an Allstate Insurance agent who has dealt with Bregman for 30 years.
Sometimes Bregman’s commitment to customer care meant cutting deals with patrons who couldn’t pay.
“He operates on a gentleman’s handshake,” said Bregman’s grandson, Justin Harless, who worked part-time in the business as a youngster and as a young man.
All of those qualities earned Bregman the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce’s 1999 Business Man of the Year award.
Bregman started his auto-glass business just after the end of World War II within Stockton Auto Wrecking, a South Center Street business owned by his brother-in-law that was eventually demolished to make way for an overpass.
The auto-glass repair business, which by that time had eclipsed the auto-wrecking operation, relocated to the southeast corner of Wilson Way and Lindsay Street.
In 1969, a larger plant was built just across the street, today one of two Stockton locations.
Stockton Auto Glass also has a third location, in Lodi.
Together, the business’s brick-and-mortar and mobile services employ 22 technicians and office staff.
Mobile auto glass repair continues to be a growing part of the company’s business, said Jim Horrox, chief operating officer.
Stockton Auto Glass is exploring co-branding with select south county auto-related businesses, forming partnerships in which both enterprises would benefit from linking names and sharing quarters, he said.
Stockton Auto Glass recruited Horrox, formerly employed by industry giant Safelite Auto Glass, with an eye toward the future, given that Bregman is the only family member who is involved in the business on a day-to-day basis.
“We’re a family business, but we’re trying to survive in the 21st century. We’re determined the legacy will stay alive,” Bregman’s son said.
Contact reporter Michelle Machado at (209) 943-8547 or mmac...@recordnet.com