MARSHALL – When Jim Brust bought Abra Auto Body & Glass in Marshall, he didn’t plan on running the franchise forever. Brust said he figured he’d be there about six years, and that’s just how things turned out.

It also turned out Brust didn’t have to look far for a buyer – just across East College Drive, to Lockwood Motors.

“I was considering options,” Brust said of the decision to sell the franchise. “This was one that worked.”

Lockwood Motors took official ownership of the Marshall Abra on July 1, said Lockwood Motors owner Chet Lockwood. Brust said Lockwood had shown an interest in buying Abra for a few years, and things worked out for a sale this year.

Lockwood will keep the Abra franchise and name at the Marshall location, Chet Lockwood said.

“We don’t plan on changing anything,” he said.

Lockwood said Abra has great repair processes and services to offer customers, and knowledgeable employees.

The plan is to keep up that level of service.

“They’ve got a great staff that I’m really excited to work with,” Lockwood said.

Buying the body shop wasn’t the first time Lockwood Motors had branched out. The dealership has grown over the years, and in 2013, the Shine Center, a car wash and detailing center, opened as a subsidiary of Lockwood. Chet Lockwood said the addition of Abra will be another plus for customers.

Now, Lockwood Motors will be more of a “one-stop shop,” he said, able to offer services from repairs to cleaning and body work. It’s also convenient that the Marshall Abra location is close to the Lockwood service shop and the Shine Center.

Brust said working with Abra has been a good experience for him.

Brust has plenty of experience in the auto-body business himself – he bought the Tyler Body Shop in 1979, and ran it until 2010, when he sold the shop to his son Jason Brust.

Working with a crew of people was a change from running his own shop, Brust said, but it was a positive one.

Reflecting back on the past six years, “Abra’s been nothing but good for me,” Brust said. “It’s been fun.”