Robberson Ford sells dealership to Kendall Auto Group

Published 5:00 pm Monday, October 18, 2021

Robberson Ford, a legacy car dealership in Central Oregon for the last 64 years, announced Sunday it is selling its operations to Kendall Ford of Bend.

The one thing that former president and owner, Jeff Robberson, demanded of the new buyers for his auto dealership was that they retain his more than 140 employees.

“They already had agreed to that when they brought their proposal to the table,” Robberson told The Bulletin in a wide-ranging interview.

Paperwork for the transfer was signed Monday. The purchase price was not disclosed.

The soon-to-be 70-year-old Robberson said it was the right time to retire from the business started by his father, Gordon “Gordy” Robberson, in 1957 in downtown Bend. The dealership had just nine employees.

He credited the success of the business to his employees, whom he speaks of as his family. Some have been with the dealership 40-plus years.

“Without them, we could not have achieved all the things that we did,” Robberson said.

Kendall Automotive Group, of Boise, Idaho, has some 40 dealerships representing 23 automakers across Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana. It was once based out of Eugene, and it was there that Robberson and the Kendall owners got to know each other.

“We weren’t in competition. We were more like friends in the same business, so it feels right to be selling to them for the right price, rather than a much larger firm,” Robberson said. The Robberson employee benefits are grandfathered in as part of the deal, he said.

“Robberson Ford’s legacy of taking care of both customers and their employee family in central Oregon make this a fit,” Michael Skillern, president of Kendall, said in a press release. “We are excited to expand upon our commitment to the communities of Bend and Prineville.”

Operations at the dealership will not likely change much. Robberson has a showroom in Bend, along with a service center, oil change site and paint and body repair operation that is planned to nearly double in size in the coming year. It also owns a satellite dealership in Prineville and has a lot north of town that stores new and used cars.

Robberson sells Ford, Lincoln and Mazda brands. Kendall in Bend has Toyota, Mercedes, Porsche BMW, Volkswagen and Audi vehicle lines.

Gordy Robberson purchased a percentage of the dealership with a $3,000 investment in 1957. It was first located at the corner of Bond Street and Minnesota Avenue.

The next location was purchased in the 1960s at 424 NE Third St. (That is now the site of Fireside Spa and Patio). In 1971, with the addition of Mazda, Gordy Robberson moved the dealership to its current location, 2100 NE Third St.

“We were literally at the end of the road on Third Street,” Robberson said. “People thought we were crazy to move so far out of town. But look at it now.”

Robberson joined his father in the business in 1986, after a successful stint as vice president of operations at age 33 with a Tacoma, Washington, trucking firm.

“We kind of called it the Dark Ages. At the time, Ford was threatening to pull our dealership because we were not getting our market share,” he said. He surveyed customers who were purchasing Fords from out of town and the results “were not pretty,” he said.

“I was convinced we needed to change dramatically, and we instituted strong customer service policies,” he said. That, coupled with the expansion of parts and service, a new oil change service, and increased focus on customer service on the sales side, led to growth of the business for the next few decades, except during the economic downturn in the mid-2000s.

The firm expanded its body and paint shop, too, growing to be one of the largest in the region, and it opened a new facility in 2000 at 2770 NE Second St. It is now due for another expansion. In 2002 the company purchased Shrum Ford in Prineville.

“People ask me why we chose Kendall to sell to,” Robberson said. “It will be a culture change for sure, but Kendall’s approach is more in line with how we operate. Our employees built this company, not me, and that was way more important to me in considering who we sold to.”