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CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: YOUR INSIGHT
THE MATHIS REPORT
BusinessDaily Record picking up Daily Record for Catlin JACKSONVILLE
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The family-owned truck accessories company that once hired a pole-sitter to boost business is now using social media to boost sales. STAFF WRITER
Ford’s Garage restaurant building out in St. Augustine
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Images special to the Daily Record
BY SCOTT SAILER
KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
Keith Catlin is using the slowdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic to be creative in advertising, like his greatgrandfather, William Catlin Sr., did in 1939. Catlin Sr., who Keith said was a big time salesman, hired well-known polesitter Richard “Dixie” Blandy to sit days on end atop a flagpole, attracting thousands to the North Main Street William Catlin and Son used-car business. The 5-foot-4, 150-pound Blandy became a champion flagpole-sitter in 1933, sitting for 77 days and nights at the Chicago World’s Fair. He topped that in 1964 by sitting on a pole for 78 days on the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Blandy died in 1974 at age 71 or 72, depending on the source, when a flagpole collapsed. This time, Keith Catlin employs Facebook and Instagram as extra promotion for products and services at Catlin Truck Accessories at 1215 N. Main St. Catlin, 44, is president and the fourth generation of the family-owned business, which Catlin Sr. opened in 1919 to sell used cars. “Our business has a 100-year history of serving and staying in front of our
Keith Catlin is president of Catlin Truck Accessories at 1215 N. Main St. He’s the fourth generation to run the family-owned business.
Pole-sitter Richard “Dixie” Blandy attracted thousands to the North Main Street William Catlin and Son used-car business in 1939.
KEEPING CLOSE – FROM A DISTANCE On May 4, the state began a phased reopening of some businesses shut down to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Daily Record is reporting on small businesses as they confront the challenges of social distancing and financial hardships brought on by the pandemic and its aftermath.
Bozard Ford Co. bought the closed Gander Mountain store to expand its dealership and include the dining amenity that will be open to the public. Ford’s Garage restaurant plans to open in the former Gander Mountain building – now Bozard Ford Lincoln – in St. Augustine. St. Johns County issued a permit for the $900,000 interior build-out for Ford’s Garage at 550 Outlet Mall Blvd., owned by Bozard Ford Co. Bozard Ford bought the property for expansion and conversion into a Bozard Lincoln dealership, where Ford’s Garage will operate. Ken Franklin Homes of Riverview is the contractor. Bozard Ford Lincoln operates at 540 Outlet Mall Blvd. Ford’s Garage describes itself as a neighborhood burger and beer joint with the vibe of a 1920s service station. It includes vintage Ford vehicles, gas pumps and fixtures. The bars feature “prohibitionstyle elements of old brick, rich wood, and a hand-hammered
SEE CATLIN, PAGE 2
SEE MATHIS, PAGE 2
Winn-Dixie moving, adding stores Southeastern Grocers announced May 27 it will fill the space of a former Earth Fare store at 11700 San Jose Blvd. in Mandarin. It will lease a 28,000-square-foot space in the Mandarin South Shopping Center. Winn-Dixie will close its store across the street at 11701 San Jose Blvd. Operations and associates from that store will transfer to the new store. Winn-Dixie also said it will open stores in seven other Florida locations previously occupied by Lucky’s Market and Earth Fare in Boynton Beach, Fort Myers, Gainesville, Lakewood Ranch, Lake Mary, Melbourne and Viera.
VOLUME 107, NO. 137 • ONE SECTION