Friedman’s Service Center has graced the triangle at Broadway and South Clewell Street for the past 87 years in Fountain Hill. Its closure is expected to happen in two phases with auto repair work ceasing on Jan. 31, 2023 and gasoline sales ending on Feb. 25, 2023.
Bruce Friedman of Bethlehem knew what he wanted to accomplish after graduating from Liberty High School in 1976. He wasn’t a typical teenager, there was no marching band practice or scoring touchdowns. Instead, he could be found underneath cars at his family-owned service garage in Fountain Hill.
By 2000, Bruce Friedman took over the reins at Friedman’s Service Center from his late father, Robert Friedman. He performed mostly all the work himself for a quarter century at the bustling business, often pumping gas for motorists and handling paperwork in between services.
Now, the longtime mechanic is ready to wipe the grease off his hands, close the bay doors and put away his tool box — for good.
Friedman’s Service Center, which graced the triangle at Broadway and South Clewell Street for the past 87 years, will close shop within the next six weeks. The closure is expected to happen in two phases with automotive repairs ceasing on Jan. 31 and gasoline sales ending on Feb. 25.
Bruce Friedman said he’s had a good run, allowing him to take care of both second- and third-generation customers. He’s ready to spend more time with his wife, Karen Friedman, four adult children and one grandchild on the way.
“I will miss all my customers,” Bruce Friedman told lehighvalleylive.com. “Some have recently come by in tears to wish me well and it is touching.”
The late Robert Friedman is shown shoveling snow. Robert Friedman took over the garage in 1979 before handing the operations over to his son, Bruce Friedman, in 2000. Friedman’s Service Center has graced the triangle at Broadway and Clewell streets for the past 87 years in Fountain Hill. Its closure is expected to happen in two phases with auto repair work ceasing on Jan. 31, 2023 and gasoline sales ending on Feb. 25, 2023.
Robert Friedman’s 1949 senior yearbook entry at Liberty High School got it right. When asked what he wanted to become in life, the young Robert Friedman never hesitated, his sons said.
“He flat out said, ‘I want to own and operate a service station,’” Bruce Friedman recalled.
The late Robert Friedman took over the garage in 1979. It opened initially in 1936 under the ownership of Robert’s uncle, the late Ed Friedman, and later, Robert’s father, the late Joe Friedman.
The original building faced Broadway, catering to residents “of the Hill” and South Bethlehem. Ed Friedman also was a businessman, selling appliances throughout the 1930s from a showroom inside the station. He had an agreement with St. Luke’s University Health Network at the time to set up television sets for rent in hospital rooms. Bruce’s brother, Jim Friedman, said that connection led to many hospital employees and their families becoming regular customers of the service center.
The original building, occupying a Texaco gas station, was razed in 1955 and a more modern site was built the same year on the property. The Friedmans in 1966 added one of first regional brushless car washes to the third bay in a $20,000 project. Motorists would drive into the bay, pay two quarters, and a nozzle would rotate around the car with a “sea horse” sign.
After buying 10 gallons of gas, patrons received a coupon for a free wash.
“People love to remember that,” Jim Friedman, of Montgomery County, said with a laugh. “Old timers still recall the ‘sea horse car wash.’”
By 1977, the car wash was removed to make room again for a needed third garage bay. By the 1990s, Texaco vacated servicing the area and Friedman’s became an independent fuel dealer. Gas attendants were known to greet children in cars with a bucket of lemon lollipops. Patrons of the former corner Mowrer Dixie Cup ice cream stand would get their tanks filled after grabbing cool treats.
The gas station was both full- and self-service. For patrons in need of of an attendant, a black air hose on the driveway was connected to a bell in the garage. When a customer drove over the hose, the bell sounded. The same bell’s been in operation from the 1940s to today.
“I think the sound will be embedded in our memories forever,” Jim Friedman said. “I think Bruce heard it hundreds of times a day. He plans to take it home with him when he leaves and jokes he’ll hang it in his home garage.”
The family will never forget the time thousands lined up in May 1990 when the garage hosted racing legend Davey Allison at an event. Allison, who went on to become one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers, brought along his No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford. He spent three hours signing autographs and greeting guests in a torrential downpour.
Allison went on to die tragically three years later in a helicopter crash. The incident still leaves the Friedmans, who are huge NASCAR fans, in utter disbelief.
Along with Bruce and Jim, Robert Friedman’s other children — son Bob Friedman and daughter Nancy Perruso, both of Bethlehem — all spent years lending a hand at the family garage. Their late mother, Joan Friedman, sold sandwiches and homemade soups out of the garage at lunch time to nearby Panzell Inc. factory workers. Joan Friedman’s decor of the restrooms earned the service center recognition as having one of the cleanest stops for travelers by Texaco, Jim Friedman said.
“She turned this place really into something, it was like a gift shop,” he said. “She turned it into something that really brought in some people that would have never come in here before.”
Patrons of the corner Mowrer Dixie Cup ice cream stand (pictured behind the station in the 1950s) would get their tanks filled after grabbing cool treats. Friedman’s Service Center has graced the triangle at Broadway and Clewell streets for the past 87 years in Fountain Hill. Its closure is expected to happen in two phases with auto repair work ceasing on Jan. 31, 2023 and gasoline sales ending on Feb. 25, 2023.
The chapter soon will close completely for the Friedman family. Bruce Friedman is not selling the station to anyone he knows. The property currently is under agreement with its future unknown.
As for novice auto technicians entering the field, the Friedmans say it’s changed significantly since they began. While there’s still a tune-up or quick oil change on the service menu, there’s rapidly growing technology that needs to be learned along with it.
“Gone are the days where you would work on your friend’s car and it’s ‘this needed spark plug,’” Jim Friedman said. “Now, you are spending hundreds of thousands on computer software and books. Now, tools are handheld computers and not just wrenches.”
What used to be the turn of a key to launch an ignition switch is now the push of a button. If a battery goes dead on a push-button ignition, that’ll send a patron from a mom-and-pop center to a larger dealership. This is coupled with newer, more modernized state inspection and emissions equipment needed to be purchased.
Like so many other small business owners, independent auto service stations have felt a similar crunch in recent years.
Still, evolving times won’t keep Bruce Friedman completely out of the game forever. He plans to still work on cars in his retirement, but it’ll be on his own time with no deadlines. Bruce Friedman’s message to loyal patrons over the decades: “I want to thank my customers — both new and old — for their friendships and loyal support of the business.”
“I will remember you fondly as I enter the next phase of my life — retirement,” he said.
Pictured are Bruce and Karen Friedman. Friedman’s Service Center has graced the triangle at Broadway and Clewell streets for the past 87 years in Fountain Hill. Its closure is expected to happen in two phases with auto repair work ceasing on Jan. 31, 2023 and gasoline sales ending on Feb. 25, 2023.
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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
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