Brothers' Dream Remains Reality 75 Years Later

For many various reasons such as economics, property damage or loss, bad location, poor planning or more, businesses can seem to often come and go. Every now and then, however, the right combination creates a business that becomes a local landmark.

Seventy-five years ago, three young enterprising brothers by the names of Joseph, Samuel and Eugene joined together to create a business which is going stronger than ever today. In 1935, the Salvo brothers chose the site of an old blacksmith shop near the intersection of Eastern Avenue and Back River Neck Road to build their "gas station."

The first floor of the three-story building housed the actual business with the gas pumps outside. The second floor served as the offices of the business. And the third floor was divided into apartments where the brothers lived. In addition to selling gas at their station, the brothers also delivered kerosene to local homes.

The gas station and kerosene business prospered and served local residents for a long time, but progress was about to change the direction the brothers' business plans were heading. When the gas station was built, Back River Neck Road was still an "oyster shell" road—an unpaved road that was covered with oyster shells. In the late 1930s early to 1940s the oyster shells were beginning to be replaced with hard paved surfaces. As this happened, the brothers realized that more and more automobiles would be traveling on the road, and that these autos would eventually need parts for necessary repairs.

With this knowledge, Salvo Auto Parts was born.

In the early days, everything was done by hand. You would enter the store and tell the person behind the counter what you needed. They in turn would look up the part number and then write the order down on a three-part bill/receipt. The first page was given to the customer who took it to the cashier and paid for the parts. The second page went to the store employee who was retrieving the part. The third page was stored in the machine for future inventory purposes.

The World War II years and subsequent times gave rise to an increase in local employment to a point whereby the Glen L Martin Co., Bethlehem Steel, and other companies employed almost 100,000 workers. This job growth created an increase in the sales and business of Salvo's, resulting in an expansion program that continues today.

The Back River Neck Store was enlarged to include more retail and storage space as well as the addition of a machine shop to do things like "turn brakes," etc. In the late 1970s the brothers began looking toward other communities within the metropolitan area to expand. In 1980 a vacant grocery store became available in the Dundalk area and the second Salvo's store was opened. Other stores have followed in Fullerton, Woodmore, Hillendale, Glen Burnie, Liberty Road, Bel Air, Owings Mills and Timonium

During the 1980s the stores were computerized, making sales, inventory, and record keeping much easier. Also, with the increase in square footage of retail space at the expansion stores, Salvo's became a little more self service as consumers could walk the aisles and shop for the best prices.

Today, Sam and Eugene have passed on but Joe still survives and Salvo's is still a family owned and operated business. Joe Jr. runs the company now, and his sons Mark, Dru, Kirk and Todd are an integral part of the business. The original three story building on Back River Neck Road still stands and now serves as the main office for the entire process.

I would like to thank my good friend Doris Salvo Gryctz for providing me with the information and pictures that were used in this column.

Next week we will take a look at the Glenn L Martin Co. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions please contact me at Lkeithroberts@@gmail.com