CALCUTTA While there are several businesses throughout the state Route 170 strip, one business has been trusted by the community for nearly four decades.

Since 1978, Calcutta Auto Parts has been an independently-owned, family-operated business serving the area with name-brand automotive parts and accessories.

Owner Bob Gresh and his staff of seven work throughout the week to help customers with questions on car parts and other services, and credits many factors of how the business has been a help to the community.

“I think being locally owned is one big thing, and being the oldest,” Gresh said. “We’re one of the original 170 businesses. I think we have more personal service. Experience is a big thing, and we still remain competitive on our pricing.”

The store carries a wide variety of name-brand and private-brand parts and accessories, and also has a machine shop where they can perform light press work, including turning drums, rotors and fly wheels. One strong point is that it maintains their products competitively priced against the likes of larger auto parts businesses.

“The big stores price match,” Gresh said. “We’re the ones who they usually price match because we’re usually some of the better priced.”

Convenience of the customers as well as their time is also important to the business. Since its opening 38 years ago, the store has been open seven days a week to tailor to the needs of the community and was also among the first with evening and weekend hours.

“We’re open seven days a week, have been since day one,” Gresh said. “It’s not new to us. A lot of places have only started staying open on the weekend and evenings. When we first opened, that was our goal. People get done working at 5 o’clock, they need to go fix their car. Everybody was closed back when we first opened.

“I said we’re going to stay open evenings for the guy who has to work and to fix his car when goes home, and same with weekends. Most places closed at noon Saturdays and didn’t even think about Sundays. We’ve been opened Saturdays and Sundays since day one. Maybe we saw the future.”

When the store first did business, it was located across the street from Tractor Supply on state Route 170. Since that time, Gresh noted how the town of Calcutta has changed from just a few business to how it looks today.

“I’ve seen Calcutta grow,” Gresh said. “It was basically a two-lane chip-and-seal road, and then they paved it and went to three lanes, and then the mega five lanes. Then when they did that, they took our building and so we moved.”

Today, the store is under a new affiliation with Auto Parts Inc. Even with the new affiliation, it continues to provide the same service and parts for customers as it has done throughout the years.