Mark Nott, the current owner of Inter City Spring Service & George’s Garage Ltd., has made the difficult decision to say goodbye to his family’s long-running business on Sept. 15 due to some personal health challenges.
In 1955 Mark’s dad George Nott founded the original George’s Garage in behind the former Lou’s Esso on McNabb Street. Lou’s Esso is now MacDougall Energy. Alongside partners Harold Daynard and Charlie Thomas, Nott soon expanded the business and had overseen several changes that included a new addition to the building.
Nott has fond memories of starting at the shop and working for his dad as a part-time employee in his early teenage years. His main job was assembling snow machines, which were a major part of the business from 1969 to 1974. “There were some mechanic shops around and several little gas station kinds of guys, but we got the majority of the traffic for coil springs and the leaf spring work,” he says. “There weren’t too many people involved at the time.”
“Today and then: time is money. It’s ten dollars more for a spring here compared to somebody else, but it’s happening now. It’s not happening in a week; it’s already in the house. And that was our reputation. We’ve always been ready.”