Name of Business: Balswick Quick Smog; Balswick Tire Shop
Location: 379 N. Golden State Blvd; 417 N. Golden State Blvd
Contact: (209) 667-1027; (209) 634-5882
Hours of Operation: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday
History of Business: As the winner of this year’s Reader’s Choice Award for “Best Smog,” Balswick Quick Smog has long been a Turlock favorite.
Opened in 1947 by Orville Balswick, the shop primarily focused on providing quality tires and tire service to the Turlock community. Before opening Balswick Tire Shop, Orville Balswick worked as a trucker for Valchris, a trucking company owned by Enoch Christoffersen, a former long-time mayor of Turlock and one of the city’s most influential people.
“My grandpa, Orville Balswick, had been in Turlock for quite some time and was driving a big-rig that drove turkeys from Turlock down to Los Angeles,” said Bret Balswick, current owner of Balwick Tire Shop. “Our business has been in the family for a long time, and is kind of our anchor here in Turlock. We’re not going anywhere.”
The tire shop, which moved to their new location just three doors down from the original location after being built in 1987, was bought by Bret Balswick’s father in 1976. The shop was passed along to Bret Balswick, who bought the family business in 2012. Staying within the family, the business currently has about eight family members working together.
The smog shop, which opened nearly 10 years ago in the original Balswick Tire Shop location, is currently owned by Bret Balswick’s sister Paula Langley and her husband Paul. Offering a full line of services, including smog checks, Balswick Quick Smog continues to offer quality automotive maintenance to the Turlock community, with smog checks being completed in less than 20 minutes.
“We pretty much do everything that we can to service our customers here in Turlock,” said Balswick.
In addition to the smog and tire shop, the Balswick family also operates three 10-minute lube and oil locations, a detail shop, and a tire and brake location on Countryside Drive.
Business Specialty: Smog checks, tires, oil changes, tune-ups, air conditioning, alignments, farm tire services, truck tire services.
