Laguna Auto Parts to Close Just Months After Owner's Death

Laguna Auto Parts, a staple business in Laguna Beach since the 1960s, will close just months after owner Jerry Piper's passing in December from a sudden heart attack.

Greg Etter, the current manager and the store's sole employee, will sell off his remaining inventory. He isn't certain when his exact closing date is, but he doesn't expect to remain open past April.

Etter cites a significant rent increase that the building owner, Kelly Ware, imposed on the business following Piper's death as the primary reason for the store's shuttering. However, both Etter and Ware say that the rental fee is far below what almost any other business on Coast Highway is paying.

"I was able to make some money for the first month after Jerry died, but when the bulding owner raised the rent, it took care of anything I could squeeze out of it," Etter says. "But in all fairness, the landlord was reducing the rent every year to help Jerry out. Once Jerry was gone, the rent was beneath fair market value. Even after the increase, it's still below fair market value."

"Jerry knew I was going to raise the rent anyway," Ware tells Patch. "I've known Jerry since we were kids, and I just gave him a break for a couple of years, as long as I could."

"It was a work of love, but it was probably time to let it go," Etter says. "It was a place for Jerry to go, also, a place for him to be, his purpose."

As the only employee, Etter will be Laguna Auto Parts' lone job casualty, but he says a side business will keep him busy. For the time being, Etter says there will be discounts on merchandise starting at 30 percent off, bargains that will likely get deeper as the closing date draws near.

Ware says he's trying to work out a deal with a prospective new tenant, and there's been talk of the space continuing as a blend of auto parts and hardware.