Ascue marks four decades as shop owner

The stories that Tim Ascue told one afternoon about the launch of his auto shop echo those of small businesspeople everywhere: the struggle to secure a site, obtain a loan, hire employees and attract customers.

But a few details, notably the time, place and circumstances surrounding the startup, are uncommon, even groundbreaking.

Ascue is black, a vehicle-repair specialist who at the time hadn't run a business. The shop would be in greater Charleston, which could be described as part of the deep South. And the year was 1968.

Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, noted his wife, Pearl Ascue, seated beside him at a long wooden table in his sister's Mount Pleasant soul food restaurant. It was a pivotal year "in the modern-day civil rights movement," she said.

Ascue, who grew up in the 10 Mile community in East Cooper, was familiar with the prevailing culture. He graduated from Laing High School, where he met Pearl (whose family, the Vanderhorsts, farmed what is now Hidden Lakes neighborhood off Rifle Range Road). Laing, the black school, and Moultrie, for whites, would not integrate for another two years.

While avoiding the word "racism," Ascue pointed out how a prominent real estate agent at the time wouldn't sell him land, how banks spurned requests for loans and how government officials denied zoning changes time and again, so he had no choice but to seek a new parcel of property.

Eventually, the Small Business Administration office in Columbia worked out a financing plan, and he was in business.

Customers knew his experience around cars both in East Cooper and as a youngster and young adult visiting relatives who worked in auto shops in New York City.

The venture gradually expanded, moving from what is now Chuck Dawley Boulevard to U.S. Highway 17 a couple of blocks north of the new Hungryneck Boulevard.

Ascue has been semi-retired for nine years, having passed along the trade to the next generation, including son Craig Ascue, who is the manager. But his influence is felt. Family and friends gathered May 17 to celebrate the shop's tenure of four decades and still going strong.

"This business, 40 years, that's phenomenal," said brother-in-law Frank Jenkins.

A few days later, the patriarch sat down at sister Charlotte Ascue Jenkins' eatery, Gullah Cuisine, to talk about the shop's history.

He gives a lot of credit to his older brother, Lawrence Ascue Jr., who moved to New York at a young age and was in the auto-body business. The venture was lucrative.

But Tim Ascue first would take a job at a Shem Creek boatyard, learning to paint and repair vessels. It was there he realized he wanted to own a business.

"I thought I would do automobiles. Everybody needs automobiles," he said.

Ascue negotiated use of a small lot on Chuck Dawley, then part of U.S. Highway 17. Pooling together $150, Ascue opened an open-air shop with his brother, Robert, who also had lived and worked in New York.

It was tough going in the early days. His wife worked at the Veterans Affairs office 1966-96, and "Pearl had to support me," he said.

Still, by 1969, Ascue had earned enough to buy a Buick Electra 225. The shop charged $85 a paint job, $600 to fix a side-swiped car.

"I was doing pretty well," he said. But the venture was outgrowing its space.

Ascue found land outside the town limits. But he needed money to buy the property and build a shop. Unsuccessful in the Charleston area, he was advised by a local banker to check with the SBA in Columbia. The officer wanted Ascue to prepare a business plan. They waited for days. Eventually, word came. He got a loan for $58,000.

Ascue built a shop in 1976 on U.S. Highway 17 where what is now Meineke Muffler, erecting a big sign with his name on it. Two years ago, he leased the site to the muffler chain and constructed a larger building behind it.

Craig Ascue was named manager in 1996. Craig's older brother, Travis, had attended Nashville Auto Diesel College. He died in an accident as a young man.

"It was really devastating," his mother said.

Craig Ascue attended North Greenville College and then South Carolina State University, majoring in marketing. He would come into the shop on weekends.

Over time, Craig Ascue modernized the front office operations, which are computerized, while installing new paint and body equipment.

Another of Tim and Pearl's sons, Tory, also works at the shop.

The shop, which now has eight employees and has had as many as 20, does repair and other paint and body work for individuals and on behalf of insurance companies for collision claims.

"It's easy," Craig Ascue said about following in his father's footsteps. The lessons, he said, are "so deeply ingrained, especially when it's about customer service and doing business the right way."

Reach Jim Parker at 937-5542 or jparker@postandcourier.com.