Tires, Oil Changes, and Community Building

Since 1977, Pepe’s Tire Shop in Cypress Park has continued to provide quality service to its customers, growing into a true pillar of the community. Raised in the border town of Tecate, Mexico, Pepe arrived in Los Angeles in 1966 at the age of 17 and landed in the then-Italian neighborhood of Cypress Park. At the time, there had been a handful of families from Tecate who had settled into the neighborhood, including his older brother, who urged him to join them in this new city. Two years later, Pepe married his wife, and a year later in 1969, their eldest daughter, Irma, was born followed by their son Jose “Joe”, and Efren. 

What started as a side business out of the family’s apartment garage on Asbury Street in Cypress Park soon grew to encompass their current-day location on the corner of Merced and Cypress Ave, where they have been ever since they opened their doors. 

Growing up, both Irma and Joe were expected to help around at their father’s business. Pepe recalls that Irma started helping almost as soon as she learned to walk and speak. 

“I used to do little mechanic work here and there, and Irma was my helper when she was three years old.” 

Not only did they help out, but when Pepe bought the property, the family shortly after moved into the house right above the tire shop to be closer to the business. This was a change that neither Joe nor Irma were particularly fond of; they missed their old home: a collection of bungalows, the “Asbury Courts”, full of trees and families and with an alley that was essentially their own private playground. Joe recalls feeling less than ecstatic about the change. 

“When we first made the change, it was pretty harsh for me because as soon as I got home from school I was outdoors all the time. [Irma and I] would go down with our bikes and our big wheels and everything down the alley. We had a blast there and then we came here and there was no backyard, no nothing.” 

Even though they had only moved ten blocks away from their old home, it felt as if they had stepped into a whole different reality. 

“It was like living in Disneyland then moving to the middle of a war zone. It was like, “Dad, where did you bring us?” 

We came out to the corner house and there were gang members across the street and then a separate gang on another corner. It was crazy. We hated it.”

For Irma, as a girl, her upbringing was drastically different from that of her brothers. While he helped out at the shop, she was stuck at home sheltered from the gang violence happening outside her family’s home and business.

Joe’s experience was more involved. “My hangout was the shop; this was my playground. I played with the tires all the time, but her being a girl, she was stuck at home. We had a completely different experience because she was secluded from all this stuff. 

I got to see it because I was here, so I got to see a lot of the gang activity that went on. So growing up with them and the cholo guys, we’d see them come around here, but it’s just part of life. That’s the way it is everywhere. You get numb to it.” 

Yet, up in the relative safety of their home upstairs from the shop, her dad still expected Irma to work and help out with the affairs of the business. And so as a teenager, she would begin to handle the statements and follow up on customers who owed money. 

“I was this young girl, about 11 or 12, filing paperwork and asking for money. I would say “Mister? You owe my dad a thousand dollars. When can we pick up a check?” I would do all his statements and staple everything and I had my own machine and would send mail and give all the envelopes to my dad.” 

Although Irma was secluded from the happenings outside her home, her father Pepe was well aware of the gang violence gripping Cypress Park. But he still would treat each customer with the same respect, even offering “scholarships” to neighborhood children, covering the cost of their school supplies or the uniforms of the local baseball team, and in the most unfortunate of circumstances helping with funeral costs. 

“My dad was like the coolest guy here. All the cholos would come here, and if they didn’t have money, my dad would install a tire and be like, “Hey, it’s cool.” My dad didn’t want to get involved; he just wanted to be cool with everybody, so they were cool with us. We didn’t have a problem.”

One particular moment really proved to Irma the respect her neighbors had for her father and his family. 

“I remember I was eight years old in the store buying stuff and then we just heard somebody say, “Put your hands up.” I turned, and when they saw us, they were like, “Those are Pepe’s kids,” and they left.”

Growing up in the family business was a decision that both Irma and Joe had no say in, but they wouldn’t change that experience for anything in the world. The memories and friendships they’ve come to make with the neighborhood and with their customers are what have allowed for Pepe’s Tire Shop to continue offering the same quality service they’re known for. And it’s made the family a bit of local celebrities. 

“My kids always tell me all the time, “Dude, who don’t you know?”

But over the years, it’s this community that has continued to support them throughout all the changes the business and Cypress Park have experienced. Don Pepe still works at the shop, but it’s his children Irma and Efren who manage the business. They’re unsure who in the family is next to run the shop, but they do know that they’ll be here as long as they are able to. 

“I’d like to have my dad here for another 15 to 20 years, even if he’s sitting on his ass there. I’d like for us to continue working, and maybe we can all retire together. I love my job. I love my clients. They’re my extended family, and I’d love to keep working here and make it a second home for most of my customers.”

Founded in 1977 by Don Pepe Garcia in Cypress Park, Pepe’s Tire Shop serves the auto repair and tire needs of customers in the greater Los Angeles area. Their superb customer service and dedication to detail is legendary, clients who have moved often come back from as far away as Arizona and Hawaii to service their vehicles. Currently owned and operated by Pepe’s children, Irma and Efren Garcia, stop by anytime at 807 Cypress Ave 90065 for any of your auto and tire needs.