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Huey Haynes II interview, 21 January 2025

Abstract

In this 2025 interview, Huey Haynes II, the owner of Haynes Firestone Tires on Miles Avenue, discusses his early life in the Glenville neighborhood in the 1960s. He describes the Haynes family history of owning gas and auto service stations across Cleveland and how he became the owner of Haynes Firestone Tires. He also describes the impact of his family on his life, why he became a business owner, and the changes that he has witnessed in Cleveland throughout his lifetime.

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Interviewee

Haynes, Huey (interviewee)

Interviewer

Carubia, Ava (interviewer)

Project

Union-Miles

Date

1-21-2025

Document Type

Oral History

Duration

36 minutes

Recommended Citation

"Huey Haynes II interview, 21 January 2025" (2025). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 483012.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/1362

Related Resources

Union-Miles @ Cleveland Voices

Transcript

Ava Carubia [00:00:00] So I’m recording now and I’m just going to start out with my little script, which is today is January 21st, 2025. My name is Ava Carubia and I’m here at NuPoint Development Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio. Interviewing Mr. Huey Haynes for the Cleveland Regional Oral History Project. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed.

Huey Haynes [00:00:19] Well, you’re welcome.

Ava Carubia [00:00:20] And then can you please state your name, your birth date and where you were born for the record?

Huey Haynes [00:00:25] Huey P. Haynes II, Birthday is […] 1959. Born in Cleveland, Ohio.

Ava Carubia [00:00:33] So I’m just gonna pick up right there. Can you talk a little bit about your early life and mention where you were born in particular?

Huey Haynes [00:00:42] Okay. I was born at MacDonald Hospital, which is part of University Hospital, Lakeside. I was this first boy born. My sister Deborah Haynes was six years older than me. And I was born here in Cleveland. And I grew up my father had bought a house in the Glenville area, grew up in the Glenville area near 123rd and Superior. And we stayed there until 1968. And I was in the fourth grade. In October, my mom and dad moved and bought a house in Beachwood and attended Beachwood High School and graduated in 1977. And then after graduation, I went off to Texas Southern University in Houston and always knew I wanted to come back to Cleveland to work with my father in the business.

Ava Carubia [00:01:31] So can you talk a little bit about growing up in Glenville? What was it like before you moved out to Beachwood?

Huey Haynes [00:01:37] Everything was real nice. It was real nice prior to the riots. And then after that things started to change and my mother, my mother wanted to move. I don’t know if my father actually wanted to move, but she had the first and the last word. So we ended up moving. So it was a real nice it was a lot of single family homes, a lot of homeowners, a lot of commercial businesses and a lot of neighborhood stores were there at that time.

Ava Carubia [00:02:15] And do you remember the Glenville riots?

Huey Haynes [00:02:21] Yes.

Ava Carubia [00:02:22] What do you remember about them?

Huey Haynes [00:02:24] The curfews and the National Guards. And then after that the neighborhood started changing.

Ava Carubia [00:02:33] How old were you?

Huey Haynes [00:02:35] I was eight going on nine. Cause it happened in July of ’68 and we moved in October of ’68. But ’68 was kind of like a very turbulent year because my mother’s father passed in Athens, Georgia. Then by the time we got back to Cleveland, my mother’s mother passed in Athens, Georgia. So we had to go back to Athens, Georgia twice, in July of ’68 and in October ’68, my father’s father passed. So we had a lot going on between my mother losing both her parents and us in the process of moving. And then my father lost his father. So I was thinking back now, wow, that was a lot going on in our family at that time. We’ve always. Everything I’ve seen my father do is get up and go to work for himself. He’s always been self-employed my entire life. So he started a business three months before I was born. So this August coming up will be 66 years we’ve been doing business in Cleveland.

Ava Carubia [00:03:49] So the business that you’re talking about, has it always been in the same location or when he first started it, where was it?

Huey Haynes [00:03:55] Oh boy. Okay, so I get, get you that information. Okay, so I’ll kind of give you some history. But my father had seven brothers, including himself and five sisters. So he migrated to Cleveland in May, no, August of 1951. And so once he got here, because he had been in the service, once he got here, he had an older brother here. And once he got to Cleveland, he was working for the United States government post office and GSA. And he had took a trip to Houston in the summer of ’58 because he had a brother older than him down there. So he met this guy in Houston that had a service station. So my father got back to Cleveland, he started looking for his own business. So in August 20, 1959, my father opened up his first business, which was on Lexington Avenue in the Hough district here in Cleveland. So he was in an Sohio Gas station. And when it was time to work on cars, everything was outside. You could pump gas right now outside, but as far as lifting the cars up, it was outside lift. So it was my father, Huey Haynes senior, Willie Haynes Sr. And Johnnie Haines, they went into business together. And the ironic thing about when they first got started, all three of them worked two jobs. So my father worked at this station during the day, and he worked at the post office in the evening. And my father’s brother, Uncle Willie, he worked for Bobby Brooks, which is a clothing store during the day, and he worked at the service station in the evening. And my Uncle Johnny, he worked for Hill Casket Company. He was a finisher for like finishing caskets. And I believe he worked second shift. So they did that from 1959 till ’62, they were at that location.

Ava Carubia [00:06:15] In Hough?

Huey Haynes [00:06:18] In Hough, on Lexington Avenue, it was this Sohio Gas station. So in ’62, my father ended up getting a Gulf gas station at 55th and Chester. And he had three bays. And so the three brothers, they left 77th and Lexington and went to 55th and Chester. So they worked there together and from ’62 until ’66. So in 1966, my father’s oldest brother, Johnnie Haynes, he decided to go in business for himself. So he ended up getting a brand new Sohio station at 55th and Cedar. And so since my father was established and uncle Johnny was just getting started, Uncle Willie went there with him. So the two brothers were at 55th and Cedar in a brand new Sohio station. And that started the summer of ’66. And my father was at 55th and Chester with the help he already had running his business. So my father stayed at 55th and Chester, which was a Gulf gas station from ’62 until 1968. So in ’68 he saw a better business offer. So he left that Gulf Gas station and got a Shell Gas station at East 93rd and Kinsman. And so that had three bays and it was real big in the back. Even had a locker for the guys that worked. And he stayed there until ’72 or ;73. And then he ended up going back to Sohio, which is Standard Oil. And he was at the corner of Cedar and Fairhill. So during that time, I don’t know if you’re familiar with, you ever heard of gas rationing? Well, they had an oil embargo and they were limited the amount of gas that the oil company could produce and sell. So rationing gas. So maybe could pump gas for two hours and then stop, and then pump another two hours and stop. And the lines were like all the way down the street. And then at that time, the price of gas and oil started going up. So my father was at that location until 1976. Standard Oil, which is Sohio, they decided to make that a self serve station. My father always wanted to work on cars, so he left there. This is when we came over to this area at 131st and Harvard. So he went there in 1976. And so he stayed there until 1992 when the oil company closed it. But in the process, when we had the station at 55th and Cedar, 131st and no, this happened when we were still on Fairhill. So we had the station on 55th and Cedar with Uncle Johnnie and Uncle Willie. And my dad was at Cedar and Fairhill. My father came up with the idea that he told his brothers, I think we need to get our own place. Because when you own a gas station, you lease the property from the oil company. You don’t own it, you know, you just pay rent, all your inventory is yours. But you just pay rent. So my father started riding around looking for a building. So he rode maybe for about five or six months and he found a Firestone, which was across the street, in 1975. Initially when he got the place, Tom Flynn used to operate it before. So my dad was paying him rent. And so my dad said I think we should just go ahead on the pilot, the firestone which is at 13404 Miles. So during the time we had the two gas stations at 55th and Cedar and 131st and Harvard, they ended up buying the Firestone across the street. And so we stayed with the oil companies until. I got to start up back. Okay, so after Sohio closed the station at 131st and Harvard and then they closed the one at 55th and Cedar. And also my Uncle Johnnie ended up getting another location at Miles and Green. So we had one on 55th and Cedar, 131st and Harvard, and Miles and Green, out in, I guess that’s Warrensville Heights. And so after that, the oil companies decided in ’92 they decided that they didn’t want to serve gasoline anymore at 55th and Cedar, on 31st and Harvard and Miles and Green. So they asked us did we want to buy the property or did we want to go to a self-serve mini market. So my father asked them where were the locations at and they told us. So I ended up going to Cedar and Fairhill again in ’92 and it was just self-service. And my Uncle Johnnie, he went to 79th and Superior which was self service, just a mini market. And my Uncle Willie, he went to 55th and St. Clair. And so Uncle Johnnie did it until I think ’94. He might have stayed there two years and he got out of it and I stayed at Cedar-Fairhill until ’97. And so I told my father I think I want to come over to the Firestone and get out of the gasoline business.

Huey Haynes [00:12:11] So he said good, because I’m ready to retire. And so I left there in November of 97 at Cedar and Fairhill and I came over to the Firestone. and Uncle Johnnie, he closed, he’s on 94 and he came over to the Firestone. And Uncle Willie closed, he’s at 55th and St. Clair. And my father saw this business opportunity so he called his brother and said I think you should try to apply for a BMV. They opened it up to the public for a license bureau. So my uncle was able, he did the application, put the money up and he was able to get a BMV. So we have done that as well. I kind of forgot about that. So back to me. I’ve been over here since 1997. And then in 2005, I had discovered that I needed a roof on my 10,000ft square field building. So I told my father, I said, well, I think we need to have a business meeting to discuss work we need done to the building. So my father said, okay, whatever you want to do. So me, my father and his two brothers, we all met together and I came up with the idea. I wanted to renovate it and buy them out because it was a partnership with the three brothers, the business across the street. So I ended up buying it out and went over to Union-Miles and came up with an idea for plans to renovate the existing retail space. So Tom Schopp worked with me and I put some plans together and we went up to the board of review at Lee-Harvard and they turned down my plans. So I was like, oh, wow, what am I going to do? So I came up with the idea for the retail space. I’d make it a barbershop beauty shop, nail salon, and the martial arts place. So we went back up to the board of review. They looked at it, they said, great. So the project was probably about four, about $400,000. So did the funding with the city of Cleveland, did the funding with Key Bank and put a new roof on the building. And 2006, we started the project. I think we finished in 2007 or eight. So it was one thing I can say for sure, without the Union Miles Development Corporation, I have no way I could have got as far as I did with the project because I was able to go through Union Miles Development Corporation, the city storefront renovation program. And it was a great. The good thing about it, I was able to do it before my father passed. So he was able to see what I was able to do two years prior to him passing. So that was. That was good. That was good. Because he was like, if that’s what you want, it was kind of funny. He was like, well, that’s what you want to do. Go ahead on and do it. He was like, I’ve done my time, so. And the strange thing about it, I’ve always had a passion to work with my father.

Ava Carubia [00:15:47] Well, I want to go back just a little bit, and I’m so glad you shared that whole timeline, and I’m so glad that you’re here today. But I’m wondering, you had a family of business owners all around you when you were growing up. How did that influence you to kind of want to get into this family business venture?

Huey Haynes [00:16:08] It was a strong influence, because when you get up and see somebody go to work every day, and the respect that they had from the community and the respect that they were able to give to people and be fair with them, that was very instrumental in me deciding that’s what I wanted to do. Because retail can be difficult, but when you learn from the best, you know how to do what you’re supposed to do and be accountable for your customers.

Ava Carubia [00:16:40] And so you went away for a while, but you always knew that you wanted to come back?

Huey Haynes [00:16:44] Yes. Yeah, I left in Cleveland in August of ’77, and I came back in July of ’83. Yeah. And I would come home for summer breaks and stuff like that. But I always knew that even when I left, going off to Texas Southern University of Houston, always knew that I wanted to come back to Cleveland to work with my father. I don’t know if he really wanted me to do it, but I guess after a while he’s like, well, I think he’s gonna do it. So.

Ava Carubia [00:17:15] And then growing up and your family having so many different businesses in different parts of Cleveland, did you learn about Cleveland through that or?

Huey Haynes [00:17:25] Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. Because we were just in about every neighborhood you can name. We were, I guess you could say Hough, Cedar-Central, University Circle, which was Cedar and Fairhill, and then 131st and Harvard, 135th and Miles, Haynes Firestone. So, yeah, just about got, the strange thing, we grew up in the Glenville area, never had a business over there. I kind of think about that, but it’s always kind of like parents migrated to this side of town. As far as business, I don’t know how that happened, but it happened.

Ava Carubia [00:18:08] And what would you say about all those different areas in Cleveland at that time when your family owned businesses and then what were they like?

Huey Haynes [00:18:16] Oh, they were thriving. They were, yeah. Everything was. It’s always been thriving. You know, the neighborhoods change, older people die off, and young people come up. But it’s always. Once you get established, people already know what you can do and what they expect you to do. So it’s. I used to always tell my uncle, I said, wow, I couldn’t even imagine trying to get started today doing something. And I’m able to walk in a sudden. It’s been going 30, 40, 50, 60 years. It’s a big difference. So it’s. You just have to live up to what the people expect from you because your name is already out there. Only thing I had to do is just live up to it, which makes it easier. It’s still a hard job, but it makes it easier when people already know about you.

Ava Carubia [00:19:13] And how do you think you’ve built those relationships with neighbors or community members over time?

Huey Haynes [00:19:24] Relating to them, understanding the person. And the biggest thing is to listen. And that makes it much easier if you can understand what somebody is telling you. So that eliminates a lot of arguments and misunderstandings because you listen to what they tell you they want. I want a tire. My car won’t stop, or my heat’s not blowing properly, or. So the key part is listening. And you made me think about something when you was asking me about myself. Prior to me going off to college, I was very, very shy. So only thing I did was constantly listen. Then as I got older, I’m like, I got to start speaking up, you know, because nobody there but me. So that’s interesting that you asked me about how I got started. So by me being so shy, I was constantly listening to my elders and listening to what they were instructing me to do and what I need to do.

Ava Carubia [00:20:32] So can you remind me the year that y’all moved to that spot on Miles?

Huey Haynes [00:20:36] What year?

Ava Carubia [00:20:37] Yeah.

Huey Haynes [00:20:38] 1975.

Ava Carubia [00:20:39] Okay. So when you moved over there, what was the area around the building like?

Huey Haynes [00:20:47] Oh, it was. It had drugstores, and it had a lot of commercial. It was a thriving commercial district. Had banks, had two banks. Right over here, right where Mr. Hero’s is at, was the Cleveland Trust bank. And right on 131st, where the Black Shield Police Club is at, it was Central National Bank. So it had banks, drugstores. Right across the street where the lady’s sell hot dogs that used to be an Army Navy store. So it was a lot of commercial business. But it has always been densely populated as far as residents. Has always been. This area has always been densely populated as far as residents. There’s always been a lot of traffic, and that hasn’t changed.

Ava Carubia [00:21:39] And when do you think the area started changing? Like, those businesses aren’t here anymore. When did they start changing ownership or-

Huey Haynes [00:21:48] I guess after ’94, ’95. Yeah, I guess after that. About that time, because I have some pictures I could show you. The housing stock was beautiful.

Ava Carubia [00:22:08] Can you talk more about that? Can you describe the housing stock?

Huey Haynes [00:22:12] Oh, at that time, you had a. You had a lot of unskilled labor, people working, and they would maintain their households, cutting the grass, keeping the house painted because the guys were making good money. That was in this area. The dad was. So it was a lot of jobs in the factories and plants and different places where people were working and making decent money. So the houses were kept up and the income level was higher then than it is now. As far as based on the cost of living and inflation, people were making more money at that time.

Ava Carubia [00:22:57] What’s one of your favorite memories of doing business in this area?

Huey Haynes [00:23:05] The favorite thing is, oh, I love my customers. So that would be the. I love, you know, my customers. I would say the favorite thing is, I’m a problem solver. So solving somebody’s problem and then a lot of times, people don’t have the money to do it. And I will still kind of look out for and do all that I can to help them. So the reward part is helping someone as well as trying to make a living at the same time. Because things happen in people’s lives where is something just happens to come up. So you try to adhere to what they’re saying and do the best you can to help them.

Ava Carubia [00:23:53] So and I want to ask like, you grew up in Glenville and you moved to Beachwood and then you went to college if Houston and came back. How do you think that Cleveland has shaped you as a person? All these different areas you’ve lived in Cleveland?

Huey Haynes [00:24:11] Oh, well, one thing, it makes you very aggressive. You’re not afraid of anything. You’re not afraid of anything. Because I used to tell my father, I used to tell him different things I wanted to do. And the last thing I would always tell him, I’m gonna do it anyway. I said the worst thing you can do is fail. So I didn’t never mind venturing off, trying something different to make the business better. And a young cousin of mine, he had asked me, he said, we talk on the phone, he said, “Have you ever thought about what you’re doing? That it didn’t work or wasn’t going to work?” I said, “You know what? I never given that any thought because I seen so much strength around me that I just always felt that I could make it happen.” And that was, I took a class with God, what’s the name of the place on Carnegie? It’s a non-profit. I can’t think of the name of it. But one of the classes I took, it was called Take Back Your Time and the lady asked a question, “What was the most important thing or greatest thing that ever happened to you?” And I told her, my father and my two uncles, that was the thing that I was blessed with.

Ava Carubia [00:25:29] I can say from this interview, I can tell that your family has had A big impact on your life. What was it like growing up with such a tight knit family?

Huey Haynes [00:25:42] Well, it was just me and my sister and I had a bunch of first cousins and it was very close knit. We did everything together. And it was. I went by my uncle’s house and he was like, yeah, me and my brothers, we worked together, slept together, drove one car. And this family just. That’s all they knew was to stick together. That helps to see that. So you know what you’re expected to do. And it’s funny a lot of things, I used to use this as an example. When you’re growing up, your parents don’t have time to explain everything to you. So I use this analysis for myself. More was caught than was taught. So you didn’t need to know that your mother and them was going to church on Sunday morning. You seen him getting up, getting dressed. So I caught that. And you didn’t need to know your father was getting up, going to work. You saw it, so I caught that. So I like that terminology. In my life, more was caught than was taught because they didn’t have time to hold your hand and chair everything. You just had to be observant to know what you were expected to do.

Ava Carubia [00:26:55] And you said you were quiet as a kid. What were your interests before you left for college?

Huey Haynes [00:27:02] Quite naturally, I like cars. I always like to keep my car clean, like sports, family outings, taking trips. We used to go see my grandmother in Louisiana. And this is. It was funny growing up, the way me, which was Huey, my cousin Victor Haynes, and my cousin Andre Haynes, we were all born in 1959 and we were with our dads and my uncle Willie, he had a. We had worked that summer. I was a junior in high school, we had worked that summer and my uncle had bought a brand new Cadillac. So he said, “I’m gonna let y’all take my Cadillac and go down south and see your grandmother.” So it was me, Victor, Andre, we were 16, and my two little cousins, Willie Jr. And Melvin Jr. They were in the car. So we drove from Cleveland to Louisiana. It’s about a 17 hour drive. No cell phone, no GPS. We just had a AAA Triptik. And we drove from Cleveland to Waterproof, Louisiana to see our grandmother. And we stayed down there probably about a week and then we drove back to Cleveland. And it’s funny, my uncle, he said, “You know what?” He called me [unclear]. He said, “You know what, [unclear]. He says,”Nnobody I could think of, I would give him a key to my car to drive all the way to Louisiana to go see my mother.“ But he said, at that time, me and my two first cousins, we were men. They looked at us as men because they had prepared us for life. And we went down there and saw my grandmother and came back. And a few weeks later, it’s time to go back to high school for my senior year. But I drove a brand new Cadillac from Cleveland to Waterproof, Louisiana, about 17 hours, and we made it down there and came on back home. But being around so much strength that you weren’t afraid of nothing, and they prepared you for a lot of things. And my father used to use this as an example. He used to say, ”Yeah, when I left home in 1947, he said my mother had told me everything that she expected from me.“ And he said, ”Most people that were raised properly, they had been told everything that they needed to be told as far as what was expected of them and what did they need to do to make it." So I think they did a good job. And I never disappointed my father. I never disappointed him.

Ava Carubia [00:29:51] So when you went off to college, what was that like, being away from your family?

Huey Haynes [00:29:55] Well, it was good because I went to Houston, and my father had two brothers in Houston, two sisters in Houston. And the college that I went to, my father’s brother, Lewis Haynes, he worked on campus, so it was good.

Ava Carubia [00:30:13] So you had family everywhere.

Huey Haynes [00:30:15] Yeah, got a huge family.

Ava Carubia [00:30:18] Yeah.

Huey Haynes [00:30:18] And that’s how it’s funny. When you. I first met you and you said, oh, my name is Ava. And I was like, hey, that’s my daughter’s name. And then a strange thing, I got the name because I knew this, met somebody down in Houston and their name was Ava. I said, that’s a pretty name.

Ava Carubia [00:30:37] Yeah. Yeah. Well, I just have a couple more questions for you, but one is, I feel like you kind of touched on this already. What is something that really fulfills you about your work that you do?

Huey Haynes [00:30:54] Well, one thing that fulfills me is, okay, you gonna make me always go back. So what fulfills me was when I first, somebody had did an interview with me in 1984. And what fulfills me is the advantages of being self-employed versus the disadvantages. So I think the advantages of being self-employed would be is the fulfillment. Getting up, doing something for yourself and knowing that it only can go as far as you take it. So the fulfillment is the advantage of being self-employed. Because somebody took a picture of us, me and my father and his two brothers and my three, two first cousins. Then the lady did an interview and she asked me a question I said the reason I did what I did because the advantage of working for yourself, I thought it outweighed the disadvantages of doing something else. So the fulfillment is being self employed and doing something for yourself. And my father used to use the example have the guts enough, man enough to do it, because you can’t do anything with fear. You’re not gonna. You have to be so confident that it’s gonna work.

Ava Carubia [00:32:21] And then my final question for you is pretty broad, which is what message would you like to leave for future generations?

Huey Haynes [00:32:30] Well, the one message I would like to leave is college is great, you need to go off to school, be away from home. And then if that’s not for you, I would say get a trade, maybe be an auto mechanic, be a carpenter, be an electrician, get a vocation that you. Thing I would say is do something that you can fall back on. Because one of the greatest things that will never die out in this country is raw material. Your sweater, my suit. So if you can do something where you actually have some merchandise, you can generate some money, unless you’re just doing some service stuff where you’re repairing something. So the one thing I will leave with them, is you have to do something for yourself and be passionate about it and be well-versed in what you’re doing because things change.

Ava Carubia [00:33:33] Thank you.

Huey Haynes [00:33:34] You welcome.

Ava Carubia [00:33:35] And there’s still time for you to add anything else to the interview that we didn’t talk about. Is there something I didn’t ask about that you want to mention?

Huey Haynes [00:33:45] Well, I guess the one thing you kind of brought up, you asked different questions about Cleveland and neighborhoods and stuff like that. And a lot has changed, but yet we still have people here. And you have to. People have to be recognized. And that’s very important because if you’re able to take time out and recognize somebody, that goes a long way, just recognizing the person. And one thing that I learned about people in Cleveland, they will know if you’re sincere and not sincere about what you’re doing. And that’s really important in anybody, what they’re doing on a daily basis. If you sit on one part of the table, the other person on the other side, they’ll know if you’re passionate about or really adhering to what they’re interested in. So the one thing I can say, even for the younger people, you have to be able to read things and definitely pay attention, to be observant to your surroundings. And there is opportunities out there. But you may have to sacrifice with time and money to make it work.

Ava Carubia [00:35:04] You bringing that up again made me want to ask another question, which is there have been changes, but what has stayed the same throughout your time in Cleveland?

Huey Haynes [00:35:18] The respect that the Haynes family has, the legacy that we have, and the passion that we have to help people solve problems with their cars.

Ava Carubia [00:35:36] Is there anything else that you’d like to add?

Huey Haynes [00:35:39] No, Ava. I think that’s. That’s it. I. Thank you for inviting me. I’ve been looking forward to this. They used to always say, back in the day, Cleveland is the best location in the nation. And my dad used to say, if you can’t make it here, you can’t make it nowhere.

Ava Carubia [00:35:58] Well, I appreciate you coming out. I really enjoyed talking with you, and I appreciate you taking the time. So I’m gonna go ahead and end this recording.