Mansfield's Pro Auto an American Dream

Lifetime (and now part-time) Mansfield resident Nick Anagnos has been told he needs to retire. His business, The Pro’s Care Complex on Route 106 just celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008, and he’s still kicking.

“I’m as retired as I want to be,” he said.

Anagnos lives his winters in Florida now, but lived in Mansfield his whole life. He started his business as a tire retreading company on Sept. 1, 1958 on Shawmut Avenue. He went the National Mansfield Bank (now Bank of America) across the street from his soon to be business and got a loan. The business has moved around a bit since then. In 1963 he bought the block of buildings that would become his business’s current home.

From there, he started a company that would become a Mansfield icon, both in town and around the country. He said he even gets people asking about the 1984 Mustang embedded in his business.

“It’s become a landmark now,” he said. “I’ve been down here in Florida for quite a while. People ‘say where are you from?’ I say Mansfield. They say, 'you know there’s a guy out there who has a car hanging out the wall?’ That’s me!”

The idea was brought to Anagnos by one of his employees, and he reluctantly said yes.

“I wanted everything to look professional, I didn’t think it would look right,” he said. “The very next day, before I could change my mind, they went and bought a Mustang with a front end collision.”

He agreed (later) that it has brought some real character and advertising to the business.

Anagnos said he prides himself in his business. He started originally with a used car lot in Foxborough, but realized it was not the business for him. A customer came in one day and said that he had a tire retreading business he wanted to get rid of and so he bought it.

“I was kind of sick of the used car business,” he said.

He said that his brother had experience in retreading tires, so they opened the shop together.

“He said if you can sell them, I can make them,” Anagnos said.

He enjoys his current semi-retirement during the winters in Florida with his wife.

“I feel very blessed,” he said. “I grew up the hard way. My father came over here from Greece when he was 15 old with no money and couldn’t speak English. I started the business from scratch and built it up to what it is today.”

The complex employs about 50 people today and contributes to many local groups and organizations.