About us

It all started in Louisville, Ohio, in 1943 as Petty's Garage, where Norm Petty began his own business after returning from service in World War II as an aircraft mechanic and pilot. He sold Sinclair gas and worked on cars, trucks, and automatic transmissions as they came onto the scene.

In 1962, Norm bought a family wooden boat from Gummere Marine, located where the Hall of Fame now stands on Fulton Drive. He purchased the motor from Midway Marine out on Route 44, where Thompson's Dairyland still remains today. When the motor later had a problem, Norm was told there would be a three-week wait for repairs. Instead, he fixed it himself, and soon word spread that Petty's Garage was also working on boats. That side of the business grew quickly, and before long, Norm was selling T’n T wooden boats and Mercury engines.

As business expanded, they outgrew the facility and in 1964 moved to Navarre, to a location that had been Don’s Sport Haven on Route 62 & 21—a small boat dealer that had closed just a couple of years earlier. Don Wilton Sr. stayed on with Norm, and together they grew the business quickly.

That same year, Norm acquired the Willys Jeep franchise from Basil Aman. When Norm’s son Ted joined in 1973, he took a strong interest in the Jeep side of the business and focused on expanding it. By 1999, they were selling over 400 Jeeps per year and were ranked among the top 25 dealers in their Pittsburgh Zone.

At the time, Jeep—then owned by Chrysler—wanted to reduce the dealer count from 5,000 to about half by the year 2000. As a result, Petty's Jeep & Marine was persuaded to sell its franchise to Waikem Auto Group in Massillon and G.G. Grim Co. in Dalton. From that point on, Petty’s continued as a boat dealer only, concentrating primarily on service and parts.

In 2024, Petty’s streamlined its operations, no longer needing all of its real estate, and simplified the business to make it more attractive to a new owner while allowing Ted, at age 76, to begin stepping back from daily involvement. Petty’s Marine was relocated to 1640 Whipple Avenue in Canton, in the Meyers Lake Shopping Center—next to Meyers Lake and very close to Lake Cable. These two lakes are the heart of Petty's growing indoor storage business and on-water service.

The new Ship’s Store is located inside the fenced-in area at the north end of the plaza, adjacent to the rear of Ace Hardware and alongside Down To Earth Dockbuilders.