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THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2010 ACTON HOME HARDWARE This week’s Distributed in today’s New Tanner ROCKWOOD HOME HARDWARE 8B Member of Consumer Protection Bureau Wwww.crownpaving.com Toll Free Quality & Service ‘We use heavy-duty equipment for better compaction. All work undertaken carries a written warranty. References proudly available Mazda dealer leaves Acton to relocate in Milton By Frances Niblock After more than 33 years in business in Ac- ton, Achilles Mazda is closing its dealership and service department and will open at a new loca- tion on Steeles Avenue at the Fourth Line in Mil- ton within months. “This was not an easy decision to make,” Achil- les Pelitus Jr. said in a telephone interview on Wednesday, adding his mother, who helped her husband Achilles Senior (Les) build the business, and still is a daily pres- ence at the dealership, has shed “‘lots of tears” over the move. Pelitus said the deci- sion, in the works for three or four years, was prompted by a Mazda directive to “re-image” its dealerships to certain standards and a certain look by this December. “The decision was really was from a self- preservation perspective. If we didn’t make the move to Milton then Mazda would have put a dealership, undoubted- ly in Milton within the next 18 months, so that would have really put us in a very tight spot up here in Acton, servicing only Acton and George- town,” Pelitis said, adding the move would allow Achilles Mazda to maintain its priorities in Acton, Georgetown and Milton. “Tt was never our in- tention to say ‘hey, we have to leave Acton’ for business purposes or anything. We love Acton and would have preferred to stay here for as long as we pos- sibly could after making a good go of it for 30- plus years,” he said. Pelitus said all of his 15 staff will make the move to the new loca- tion and are “excited to go. He said the future of the Acton dealership and repair shop is undecid- ed, although they would like to continue to have a “presence” in Acton. He said they don’t have to sell the Acton location to make the move to Mil- ton, but in the long run, if the best decision is to sell the Acton location, then that’s what will happen. “My absolute best scenario would be to re- tain it with some sort of automotive capacity. The unfortunate thing is that a satellite operation is not feasible from a cost perspective and from Mazda’s re-imaging in- structions,” he said. In a press release, Peli- tus said,” Acton has been tremendous to my family. However, the opportun- ity that Milton presents to us is enormous. We are very excited.” Les and Litsa Pelitus immigrated to Acton in 1971, and within two years, opened Achil- les Motors, a car repair facility. They began representing the Mazda brand in 1977. Achilles Jr. has been the dealer principal at the family dealership since 2000. ACHILLES LEAVES ACTON Achilles Mazda will close its Acton dealership and relocate at a new Milton location within months. Helping cele- brate Achilles Mazda’s’ 30th anniversary in 2007 were, from left: Litsa Achilles, Mazda’s Peter Whaley, Achilles Pelitus Jr., Jennifer Pelitus, and Mazda’s Don Romano. Front: Achilles Pelitus Sr. with granddaughter Julia Pelitis. — Submitted photo SSHUF-EUEBOARDS J A SUMMER PROGRAM OF. ON THURSDAY MORNINGS 9:00 TO NOON MAY, 27™: 2010 FOR 10 WEEKS, AT THE ACTON CURLING CLUB - 242, CHURCHILL RD: N. $20°° FOR THE SUMMER OR *3°° PER DAY, ADULTS WELCOMED