www.clarkesautoparts.com
History
Clarke’s Auto Parts is a family owned and operated business that started in Calgary in 1926. It has experienced three generations of ownership within the Clarke family.
It was founded in 1926 by Gordon Clarke. At this time it was located at 12th Avenue and Center Street, where is stayed until 1979. The building itself was quite historical, having served as an old drill hall from the Boer Wars. It was then used to train troops for World War One. The building survived the Great Fire in downtown Calgary, 1886, which devastated which is now the area of 9th Avenue and Center Street.
When Gordon Clarke started Clarke’s Auto Part he ran it all by himself. He originally had a job at the Ogden Shops as a machinist, building cannons for the Canadian Navy. When he had saved enough money he started Clarke’s Auto Parts and he also owned a war surplus store, Clarke’s Surplus.
Gordon Clarke passed away in 1960, leaving Clarke’s Auto Parts and the surplus store to his sons Eric Clarke Sr., and Roper Clarke. Clarke’s Surplus was sold in 1966 to Crown Surplus who is still in business today.
The shop moved locations in 1979, where it was consolidated in forest lawn industrial at 2704A 52 Street SE, where it still is today.
Eric Clarke Sr. and Roper Clarke ran Clarke’s Auto Parts until 1990, when it was taken over by their sons, Eric Clarke Jr. and Blair Clarke.
“Blair and I started out when we were twelve, washing hubcaps for 25 cents a day and at the end of the day I would go to get my quarter … and then I would go buy candy at Victoria Park, Olympic way and 12th Avenue, what is now Olympic Grocery,” says Eric Clarke Jr. reminiscently.
As Eric and Blair continue to work hard to uphold the family business they make plans moving forward. The vision is the environmental remediation of the property. “We are looking for ways to be more environmentally friendly, and we have remediated a lot to date. We’ve taken the topsoil and scraped it, removed it, and exposed what is now good soil. We now have reptiles and amphibians living there and foxes, and coyotes and ground squirrels, gophers, birds of prey, and the flora and fauna is diverse and active. It is good to see,” says Eric Clarke Jr.
The property is now being positioned as an RV and vehicle storage facility, offering a safe and secure storage space, as well as continuing with exemplary standards, to offer new, used and reconditioned auto parts, maintaining their strong reputation in the auto recycling industry.
