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Ford dealership marks 50 years(Journal Star (Peoria, IL) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jun. 26--PEKIN -- There are plenty of places to buy a Ford in central Illinois, but Bruce Saurs believes the big reason the Velde dealership recently passed the 50-year mark in business is a passion for keeping customers satisfied. It isn't just about servicing cars, said Saurs, who joined the dealership in 1963 when Lynn Velde was still operating the business he founded on Court Street in downtown Pekin. "You have to service the people. The customer is always right even if he's wrong," Saurs said. Tim Saurs, Bruce's son, who now runs the dealership, is well aware of the principle and practices it on a daily basis, noted his father. The Velde dealership today operates on Illinois Route 29 on the north edge of Pekin, the first resident in what has become known as Pekin's Auto Row. Next door is Velde GM SuperCentre and there's also a Velde Lincoln Mercury Volvo dealership on Peoria's Pioneer Parkway. But it all started with the Ford line, said Saurs, who became co-owner when Velde moved to larger quarters on Route 29 in 1967, a time when showroom models included names like Mustang, Fairlane, Falcon and Bronco. A new Ford sedan sold for around $2,200 in 1967, and Saurs sold plenty of them. In fact, car sales have been consistently strong over the years, he said. "There has only been one year when Velde had a loss. That was in 1980 when interest rates were around 19 or 20 percent," said Saurs, who recalled having to make an extra effort to sell cars during that time. "Back then you could be open on Sundays so Tim and I would come in to sell some cars just to keep the doors open," he said. Saurs has never stood still. In addition to his central Illinois dealerships, he acquired a car dealership in Vero Beach, Fla., that he sold in 1992. The acquisition that Saurs is perhaps best known for is the Peoria Rivermen hockey team he bought in 1989. "It was Bill Becker, a local psychologist and a big hockey fan, who talked me into it," he said. Saurs purchased the club from the city at a time when the franchise was bleeding red ink and questions were being raised as to whether ice hockey could really play in Peoria. Under Saurs, a former coach at Peoria High School, ice hockey not only found an audience in central Illinois but prospered. Saurs, 80, said he is now trying to find partners for his hockey club to join him and co-owner Anne Griffith. "I'd like to get a couple of young guys to carry on so Peoria doesn't lose a triple A franchise," he said. Saurs, a PE major while at Bradley University, finds a parallel between selling cars and winning games. "The car business is like coaching. It's all about teamwork," he said. The Saurs team numbers 55 people at the Ford dealership -- many of them longtime employees like Dave Koehne and John Cook, salesmen who have racked up 26 and 25 years of service, respectively. Dave Scott has worked in the Velde service department for 31 years while Tony Watson has been employed there for 26 years. "Forty-six percent of the (Velde) staff has 15 years of experience or more. There's 769 years of experience in this building," said Bob Beckner, who is the Internet manager at the dealership. Saurs cited a number of reasons for that kind of continuity. "We try to make it a good place to work. We're also a profit-sharing company. I installed the plan years ago and Tim made it even better," he said. The Velde dealership is also something of a family affair. While Tim Saurs is manager, brother Scott Saurs is assistant general manager. Tim's daughters are also on the job -- Lynzie Gruden is financing and insurance manager and Stacie Saurs is a sales consultant. But experience and family involvement doesn't mean Velde can rest on its laurels, said Saurs. It's a different environment that existed when the dealership started 50 years ago. For one thing, Ford no longer is the number-two automaker behind General Motors. American companies now face increased competition from Japanese firms like Toyota and Honda, he said. The whole process of buying a car has also changed. "Now 75 percent of all car buyers search the Internet before making a purchase," said Beckner. That purchase also takes time, he said. "Ford says 50 percent of new car sales take at least six months from the time a buyer starts looking," said Beckner. While the Internet has expanded a dealer's sales territory ("It used to be a 75-mile area," said Saurs), it has also expanded a dealer's costs, he said. "It takes more money to maintain a good Web site," said Saurs. Looking back over newspaper ads detailing some of the dealership's 50-year history, Saurs pointed to a full-page Velde ad from long ago that featured chimps making different faces. "We brought them in from North Carolina," he said of the trainer who drove his troupe of performing monkeys here in a mobile home. "The people loved it. We needed police to direct traffic out on Route 29, we had so many folks turn out," said Saurs. To see more of the Journal Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.PJStar.com. Copyright (c) 2007, Journal Star, Peoria, Ill. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |