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ALEXANDRIA — After 25 years in business, Rocket Auto Electric of Alexandria is closing its doors.
The official last day of business is Friday, Sept. 23.
"It's our time," said Ron Fischer, who operates the business with his brother Roylie. "I'm at retirement age. I call it semi-retired because I'll still be doing something. … Semi-retired means you still want to go to work."
Ron has been working in the industry since 1984, more than a decade before Rocket Auto Electric opened.
"It worked out good," he said. "I had a lot of people help me at the beginning. It's been a good run."
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During Rocket's 25 years of operation, Roylie has focused on the electrical side of things, while Ron has worked on the other jobs.
"We had a real wide versatility (in the shop)," Ron said. "Anything that has to do with electrical (systems) on the car, he's the guy."
Ron continued, "We love the work. We were born that way. We're old farm boys. I'm here around 6 o'clock, Roylie's here around 6, 6:15, and by 7:30, quarter to eight we're hitting it."
The auto industry has changed a lot in the past 25 years, Ron said.
"It's changing so fast," he said. "Cars today, other than driving themselves, everything is fully electrical. Here's these old guys that worked on '57 Chevys and stuff back in the day, and you just keep crawling up the ladder and how far do you go before you say, 'I don't want to do it anymore.' That's kind of where it's at right now on that electrical side."
Information on the newer parts and systems is also harder to come by, he said.
"You can find it, but you've got to dig for it," Ron said. "You've got to understand what's going on. Everything's done by wire. Everything."
The Rocket Auto Electric building has been purchased by Roylie's son, who will use it as a body shop. He takes possession of it on Sept. 30.
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"There's a lot of clean-up to do," Ron said. "Over 25 years you accumulate a lot of stuff."
Once that's done, he'll be semi-retired.
"I'm looking forward to it," he said.
