New tire, repair store to open in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Former Swanson Motors General Manager Rich Swanson is returning to Moses Lake in May full-time to own and operate a Perfection Tire and Auto Repair store.

Site work started this week on the Broadway Avenue location, which he described as a “one-stop automotive service center.”

The new 8,000 square-foot store is expected to open in late June, will have an eight-bay shop and employ between eight to 10 people.

He still needs to hire his staff, which includes an assistant manager, service manager and technicians.

His experience and knowledge of the company comes from managing a Perfection store in Spokane.

He said he already developed the idea of bringing a store to Moses Lake when Perfection President Jerry Kirschke approached him.

Kirschke was also looking for places to open new stores.

“And I was looking, so we put it together pretty quickly,” Swanson recalled.

Another factor in returning to Moses Lake was the career of Swanson’s wife, Chris, who currently works as a special education teacher at Longview Elementary.

With Chris working in town, Rich realized Moses Lake doesn’t have a store that offers both tire and automotive services, he noted.

“It will be a good fit for the community,” Rich noted. “Moses Lake doesn’t have a store like that. The other shops in town primarily do tires or mechanical, but not both … I think we’ll compliment the Moses Lake establishments nicely.”

His background in Moses Lake also comes from working as general manager of Swanson Motors, which he sold in 1993 when his father Don Swanson passed away.

Swanson sold Oldsmobiles, Buicks, Pontiacs, GMCs and Hondas.

Perfection has four stores in Spokane, three in the Tri-Cities, other Eastern Washington locations and in the North Idaho panhandle.

For more information, visit www.perfectiontire.com.