“Automobiles right now are so much easier, to me, to work on than they used to be,” he said. That’s because dealerships got tired of difficult repairs, so they started designing them for simpler repairs, he said.
His Facebook page lists him as “Retired at Ritzi Body Shop, Inc.”
The business was founded by George Ritzi and Charlie Hogan in 1937, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president and the average car cost $760. It passed from George Ritzi to his son, Paul Ritzi Sr.; and then his son, Paul Ritzi Jr., who ran the business with his son, Nick Ritzi.
Dan Bates, president and CEO of the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, expressed thanks for the family’s generations of work in the city, and hope for what might come next on the property, which has a for-sale sign posted on a building.
“It’s always sad to see the end of a line for a business, especially a family business,” Bates said. “But we’re excitedly anticipating what will go into that wonderful building.”
“We all look at that building and say, ‘Man, could that be a cool something — a bar, a diner, there’s a lot of things it could be.‘”
“I thanked the Ritzi family for preserving that landmark all this time, and having it ready to go for the next business,” Bates said. “So kudos to them.”
The closure comes at a time when new shops, bars and restaurants have been opening along the Main Street business corridor and in the city’s downtown. Many of them are doing so in anticipation of the December, 2021 opening of the under-construction Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill, which will attract 10,000 or more athletes and their families to the city some weekends.
About the Author
