- July 16, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
Jeff Helgason, owner of Riley Park Tire in Greenfield, handles a work order in the business’s garage. The 58-year-old business is being sold to an Indianapolis company that promises to keep the name. (Tom Russo | Daily Reporter)
GREENFIELD — As Jim Helgason prepared to open his tire service business in 1963, one of his tasks, of course, was to come up with a name.
“I thought, well, I don’t want ‘Jim’s Tire’ in there, because I don’t want them calling me on Sunday,” he joked.
His answer was right across Main Street at Riley Park, a local landmark that would make the business easy to find and give directions to.
“Most people in Greenfield, they know where the park’s at,” Jim said. “So I called it Riley Park Tire.”
Its decades in business have made it a landmark of its own at 801 E. Main St., where Jim and his son, current owner Jeff Helgason, built a clientele throughout the region, country and world. After another successful…