As John Jenkins looked out the window of the car dealership he officially acquired in Bridgeport on April 1, there was more than one time when his mind flashed back to decades earlier. It was a time when he was living in Harrison County, a student looking forward to heading off to Victory High School and when parts of Clarksburg were much different than they are today.
“Back when I was 14 years old, I got into the business washing cars at Chenoweth Ford Lincoln Mercury,” said Jenkins. “That’s where Vito’s Pizza is today.”
Today, John Jenkins is a man who has decades’ worth of experience under his belt selling cars. He’s been the owner/operator of Jenkins Ford in Buckhannon for 26 years. And on Monday – April Fool’s Day – he and his family took over the former Larry Myers Subaru-Hyundai Dealership on Lodgeville Road. On that particular day and in the days leading up to the purchase and after, it’s been no joke in forming the brand new Jenkins Subaru-Hyundai.
“From a business standpoint you have to deal with lots of paper work, the franchises, financing, floor plans, computer systems and just about everything else you can think of,” said Jenkins.
During the course of the last few days, some of the changes are subtle, while some have yet to take place. On the large sign visible from Interstate 79, the name “Larry Myers” can still be seen. But on the doors leading into the not-even-10-year-old facility on Lodgeville Road, the new business “Jenkins Subaru-Hyundai” is already in place. More changes will be on the way to the still fresh building.
Getting to the point of ownership transfer, however, didn’t happen overnight, last year or even a decade ago. The stage was set back before John Jenkins sported a cap and gown as part of Liberty High School’s first graduating class in 1974 and even before his wife Sheila graduated from Washington Irving. It became well before the couple moved to Buckhannon and had three sons – Joey, Matt and Andrew.
It happened with a bucket, some soap and some water. And as mentioned above, it all happened at the tender age of 14.
“I got started washing cars. From there, I worked in the service department, got into sales and then into management,” said Jenkins.
After many years there, Jenkins decided to head out partially on his own. In 1988, he bought B&R Ford in Buckhannon. His partner in that first venture was none other than Clair Chenoweth.
“We were partners for a little over two years and I ended up buying his stock out,” said Jenkins. “Our goal then was that we wanted a team like we had at the Chenoweth garage. The team was a like a family and that’s the way we’ve ran things ever since.”
The old B&R Ford was located in downtown Buckhannon, on the corner across from the Upshur County Courthouse. The good news with the acquisition of B&R Ford that became Jenkins Ford Mercury (today it is Jenkins Ford, Inc.) during the year of acquisition in 1988 was that it was growing. And that growth required the Jenkins’ family to buy property to expand and that meant acquiring property and tearing it down; whether it was a motel or an old, dilapidated Victorian home.
“This (the Larry Myers dealership) is the only building I’m aware of that my dad has bought that he doesn’t have to tear down,” said his son Matt with a laugh.
For a while, the plan was to stay in the downtown Buckhannon location. But as time pressed forward and the dealership that had a location Jenkins’ described similar to being on a corner along Johnson Avenue continued to grow, some unique opportunities presented themselves.
The key opportunity came when Jenkins was able to purchase property along Corridor H. That initial purchase was for five acres before buying an additional 1.2 acres from the state once the roadway went through.
“With Corridor H we saw potential,” said Jenkins. “There’s more visibility and visibility is a big thing for a car dealer. Plus, car dealers need room along with exposure and Corridor H provided that along with parking and convenience.”
As it turned out, the land along Corridor H became the future home of Jenkins Ford; a home that would meet the need of the auto industry from current times as opposed to the old downtown building that met the needs of cars built in the 1930s. The old property, however, still had value and was sold to more than one company, including NAPA Auto Parts and to Premier Bank.
“I bought that property along Corridor H about 15 years ago and we’ve been in the facility there for 13 years,” said Jenkins. “It’s been good for us, it’s been good for Upshur County and we feel strongly it’s been good for our customers.”
And the car business, John Jenkins readily admits, has been good for his family. Along with providing for his family and those that have worked for him, it’s helped create many friends; not the least of which was Larry Myers who knew the entire Jenkins clan, including Jenkins’ three sons.
“I was at dinner one night with my mother when I ran into Larry and he said ‘One of these days I’m going to sell out and I’m going to sell it to you guys.’ I was pleased to hear that, but at the same time I knew he wasn’t ready to sell so I didn’t think a whole about it,” said Matt Jenkins.
That all changed during the recent “Car Wars” event that was held at White Oaks in Bridgeport. After a long day, Matt met up with a colleague at a Bridgeport restaurant and Larry Myers and his crew also showed up.
“I ended up talking with Larry for an hour and a half, maybe more, and he wanted me to have my dad call him the next day,” Matt said. “As soon as I walked out the door I called my dad and told him ‘You’ve got to call him first thing in the morning.’ He ended up calling and it just went from there.”
The initial meetings were in September of last year. The buy-sale took place on Oct. 25 and as John Jenkins admitted, anything of this nature “takes time, longer than what we wanted, but it’s worth this because we wanted to be here.”
Part of the reason was the relationship with Myers and the fact that the Jenkins’ family knew it was a solid dealership. Part of it was the fact that John Jenkins and his wife, in a way, would be coming home. And another part of it was the location.
“That’s one thing we love about it for sure. It has the visibility, but at the same time my wife and I are from here and it’s sort of like coming home for us,” he said. “ … We love Buckhannon, but there’s no place like home.”
Jenkins Ford will remain in operation in Buckhannon. John Jenkins’ oldest son Joey will manage that location.
“Hopefully, we won’t miss a beat there and I’m certain we won’t,” said Jenkins.
The new dealership will be handled by Matt Jenkins, who will serve as general manager. Eventually, John Jenkins said he’d like to get another dealership and have his youngest son Andrew, who is currently in college, to manage it.
“This is about our three sons, but I don’t want all three of them in one location,” Jenkins laughed. “I want them to stay in the car business and have the same opportunities that I’ve had.”
Like their father the three boys all started in the automobile business in the same manner as their father – washing cars at the dealership. And John Jenkins has the boys on the management path he hopes they’ll continue to follow.
With his oldest already running the shop in Buckhannon, the middle-aged son has the advantage of being a Bridgeport resident for the last six years. Along with managing his first store, he’ll see his commute time chopped down significantly.
“I’ll go from a 35-minute trip to going one exit down,” Matt, who started working in Buckhannon in 2009, said.
In six months, after getting some initial help from his father, he’ll be overseeing the new brands by himself. He’ll also be overseeing what right now are 37 employees, which is expected to grow. However, what he’d really like to see grow at the new Bridgeport business is the customer base. And he said there’s no real trick to doing it.
“We don’t want you to just buy a car and then take it somewhere else for service and see you 80,000 miles later. I want our customers to build an experience here that once they buy a car here they want to have it serviced here. If you give the customer a good deal on a car and you take care of them, you can give them the experience they want,” said Matt Jenkins. “Anyone can sell someone a car, but it’s how you take care of someone after that transaction has been made that will dictate if they come back to you. They’ll come back to you if you treat them right and that’s what we’ll be doing.”
Editor's Note: Top photo is off John Jenkins, left, and his son Matt, while the bottom photo is of some of the inventory at Jenkins Subaru-Hyundai that the family would like you to stop by and take a look at.
Congrt,s to the jenkin.s family i worked for them for many years . john is one of the nicest most honest men i ever did bussiness with . man of his word best of luck
Posted by james gregory Apr. 05, 2014 at 6:35 PM EST
Congrt,s to the jenkin.s family i worked for them for many years . john is one of the nicest most honest men i ever did bussiness with . man of his word best of luck
Posted by james gregory
Apr. 05, 2014 at 6:35 PM EST
Leave a Comment
Log in or create an account to post a comment.