By Laura Solly
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Trey Clauss to celebrate his and his wife, Mila Clauss’ latest purchase of The City Garage building, located at 5 Monroe Street, from Sean and Elizabeth Lowes. Trey and Mila purchased the business two years ago from Sean and Elizabeth with the plan to eventually buy the building as well.
Trey began skiing around the age of eight years old after being inspired by friends in his neighborhood. He was curious to learn what this winter past time was all about. Trey recalled many fond memories of skiing with his Mom at Kissing Bridge. Together they would make the drive from his hometown Derby, NY to ski day or night as much as they could at KB. As time went on, he eventually migrated to the town of Ellicottville. He would hit the slopes of Holiday Valley as part of his Lakeshore Central School’s ski club program on Saturday nights. With his first taste of the bigger and more challenging hills of Holiday Valley, Trey felt the freedom that skiing gives you. Trey loved to go as fast as possible, make turns, and jump at any moment. To this day he feels that there is nothing better than skiing down a snowy slope to make you feel like a kid again.
In 1998 Trey was riding up the Chute chair lift with a freestyle team buddy and some “old” guy hopped on the lift and began telling them he was about to open a ski shop that was going to cater to skiers, especially mogul skiers, like them. Fast forward one year when Trey walked into The City Garage to feast his eyes on all the ski equipment and clothing that he saw in his ski magazines and officially met that “old” guy, Sean Lowes.
Trey Clauss with Founder, Sean Lowes and Patra
Lowes, a pillar of The City Garage, who will continue
to shed her creativity in the shop and her knack for
display and merchandising until the day Trey decides
to retire.
Sean and Elizabeth Lowes bought The City Garage building in 1998 and began laying the groundwork for the ski shop they created and ran from 1999 until recently selling the business to Trey and Mila in 2023. Trey started working at the ski shop unofficially in his senior year of high school at Ellicottville Central where he had the opportunity to be an intern at a local business. The obvious choice was a ski shop where he could learn more about the trade he loved so much. After graduating high school in 2001, his official first day of work at The City Garage was none other than September 11, 2001. Certainly, a day he will never forget for obvious reasons.
After a few years of being at the store, talking with customers, and working with reps, Trey found out he could go to North America’s largest ski show in Las Vegas Nevada. While Trey was eager to go, it was Sean who had the insight and history of repping himself to know it would be best for Trey to wait until he reached the legal age of twenty-one. There was no need to go to Las Vegas unless you could fully experience it. Those trips to the ski show at Mandalay Bay with Sean and Patra Lowes, Sean’s sister, and “Chief Creative Office” in the shop, were some of the craziest times of Trey’s early years in the ski industry.
Being part of the crew at The City Garage is more like being part of a family. Trey started at such a young age and did a lot of growing up in those first ten years of working at the shop. He stated that although Sean was the boss at work, Elizabeth was the true boss’s boss. She would keep him in line when he got distracted by what Ellicottville had to offer, wink, wink. Sean, he said, was like a father who taught him all there is to know about running a successful business. Patra Lowes, a pillar of The City Garage, continues to shed her creativity in the shop and her knack for display and merchandising will live on until the day Trey decides to retire. Trey respectfully stated it is a unique experience coming into the shop and Patra is the one who makes that experience come to life year after year. Sean’s (and now Trey’s) motto is “have fun doing it and maybe make some money here and there.” Here’s to doing both of those things equally!
I asked Trey about any of his favorite memories and he expressed, “With twenty-four years of experience working at one of the best ski shops in the country, countless ski trips across the US, attending Las Vegas ski shows, hanging with ski legends, testing new equipment before it hits the market, and simply enjoying incredible days on the slopes, I feel truly fortunate year after year. Living and working in Ellicottville is a blessing, and having the opportunity to take over a business I’ve dedicated so many years to is something that doesn’t happen overnight. When you genuinely love what you do, it never really feels like work.”
When asked what do you see for the future of the store Trey stated the future looks bright! Ellicottville is still growing and gaining popularity. Weekly, people come through town for the first time and fall in love with it. Holiday Valley and HoliMont prove to be unique, small town, big resort destinations for Western NY. Trey’s goal is to continue making people feel comfortable and welcome shopping at the store and customer service will be the main priority. The City Garage is not only a thriving business, but a place where people want to come hang out and be a part of the skiing scene and for that, Trey and Mila are grateful. They both hold Ellicottville as a special place where they met, have grown up, created many lasting friendships, and choose to raise their two boys. The torch has been handed over and the legacy the the Lowes founded has a bright future in Ellicottville with Trey, Mila, and their boys carrying it forward.
Lastly, Trey would like to take the time to thank a few very special people in his life and foremost his strong and caring wife Mila. “She is the absolute backbone of our family and now our business. Second, goes to Sean and Elizabeth Lowes. They truly have taken me under their wing and treated me like a son and have shown me a lot in my life. Last, and certainly not least, the pillar of The City Garage – Miss Patra! Her dedication to hard work to making the store look amazing year after year is something that can’t be overlooked, her eye for detail and creativity will never be duplicated. Here’s to a snowy winter season! Think SNOW!”