By Kris Leonhardt

Editor

MARSHFIELD — Two Marshfield auto businesses are combining their resources to streamline the services they provide. Steven Apsey, owner of American Auto Sales & Service, and Tim Dupee, owner of Midtown Motors LLC, recently joined forces to address the needs of their customers.

“For the car sales side of the business, we are merging,” said Apsey. “American Auto will take care of all the service for both. Tim will head up the used car inventory side, and I’ve stepped away from that. He stepped down from servicing vehicles, and we’ve took that over.

“It’s a merger, but there are still two separate businesses, but it is merged into one as far as working together to better serve our customers.”

The two met while attending used car auctions and formed a bond of mutual respect.

“Tim has always had a decent vehicle to offer the consumer, and it was desirable to work with him,” said Apsey. “He’s got a good history with customers, a good name out there. He feels the same about me, and we have mutual friends too.”

Apsey and Dupee began discussions about merging in the summer of 2016 and set those plans into motion early in 2017.

Both business will have a full inventory of used vehicles, and American Auto will handle the service for both.

“Mainly, I had been doing this myself for five years, and I needed an employee and couldn’t find one,” explained Dupee. “He started servicing the cars. I was buying more, and it wasn’t long, and we were talking about getting cars up here on the north end of town.

“I studied the town a little bit. I’m losing a lot of north business by the bypass. People come in on the bypass, and they go north. They don’t go south.”

American Auto is located at 900 N. Central Ave., and Midtown Motors resides at 1400 S. Central Ave.

Apsey was employed with American Tire & Exhaust for a decade before purchasing the business from Myron Keding in January 2009, renaming it American Auto. The business provides full-service car repair, used auto sales, auto detailing, and has an on-site car wash.

Dupee has been in business as Midtown Motors for the past six years and deals heavily in used cars.

Through the merger, the businesses have doubled their used car inventory and increased their turnaround time in car service.

Dupee summed up the advantage to working together in one word: “efficiency. Cars come in, and we are ready to roll within a day. … When I was doing it myself, the cars would come in, and I would have them sitting for at least a week or two at a time. Now these guys get on them right away. What we bought this week will be on the lot next week already.”

“Better service to the customer is the biggest advantage,” added Apsey. “When I would have to leave here to go to the auctions — I’ve got a good crew. Don’t get me wrong — but I felt that my attention was taken away from the customers’ service.”

As a result of the merger, American Auto will be hiring one new mechanic at its location.