Baltimore Auto Supply Celebrates Anniversary
Auto Pride Member The Baltimore Auto Supply Company Celebrates 70th Anniversary
GERMANTOWN, Tenn., June 18, 2018 – Shortly after World War II ended, Alvin
Berlin completed his Army service and went into business selling auto parts out
of the back of his truck to service stations in Maryland, while his wife, Rose,
handled the books.
Seventy years later, The Baltimore Auto Supply Company is an
Auto Pride member with a 62,000-square-foot, state-of-warehouse serving the
entire Mid-Atlantic region, including several government agencies.
“My parents established the foundation for the business at
an opportune time, as Detroit automakers in the late ’40s began making new
models to meet consumer demand during the post-war economic boom,” says Herman
Berlin, Alvin and Rose’s son, who today serves as owner and vice president of
BAS. “Then with the advent of the Interstate Highway System in the late ’50s,
people started buying more than one automobile per household, and there was no
looking back. Within two years, Alvin and Rose had grown the business from a
wagon peddler to a warehouse distributor with their own facility.”
After Alvin passed away in 1991, Rose became president of
the company, before eventually stepping down. Rose, whose 103rd birthday is in
July, still talks of needing to get back to work. Today, Herman and his wife,
Sherry, a lawyer who oversees everything from accounting to HR to marketing,
and their son, Alex, sales manager, work together with their management team to
continue making The Baltimore Auto Supply Company a successful family-owned
business.
Like most Auto Pride members nationwide, BAS specializes in
niche products, including maintenance chemicals and lubricants, and tools and
equipment. BAS also enjoys a reputation as the biggest distributor of
snow-traction chains and cables on the East Coast.
“Auto Pride salutes Baltimore Auto Supply for its rich
heritage of providing exceptional service and niche, hard-to-source parts and
products for their installer customers and government agencies alike,” says
Cora Roark, director of Auto Pride. “The Automotive Distribution Network is
committed to working closely with BAS to ensure the company remains ahead of
the technological curve, so this family-owned WD can continue to provide
exceptional service that outperforms the competition for years to come.”
The Automotive Distribution Network, operating under the
brands of Parts Plus, Parts Plus Mexico, IAPA and Auto Pride, is one of the
most diverse groups in the auto-care industry. The Network is a proud member of
Nexus North America and Nexus Automotive International, a worldwide group of
parts distributors committed to bringing a global approach to the industry. For
more information, contact Laura Guy at Network Headquarters, 3085 Fountainside
Dr., Ste. 210, Germantown, TN, 38138. (901) 682-9090, lguy@networkhq.org.