Raymond has big plans for Charleroi Ford dealership

A new two-story building will be constructed on the lot.

By MATT PETRAS
For the MVI

The Davies Ford car dealership in Charleroi is under new ownership, which brings a new name, Gerry Raymond Ford, along with plans to renovate and expand its offerings.

“We had a mutual friend of ours hook us up,” Raymond said of former, long-time owner Jim Davies.

Raymond has begun to steward renovations to the dealership, located at 728 McKean Ave. It seeks to offer the same Ford vehicles and products, but Raymond has focused on updating its lots and roads. Much of that work has been completed, but some of it remains ongoing.

“We’re extremely aggressive in volume, volume, volume,” Raymond said. “If you took a drive by here, before we even bought the store, we already had construction crews lined up to demo some old buildings to make beautiful paveways and beautiful parking lots to increase sales.”

Future plans include construction of a new two-story building.

“It’s going to be really beautiful and hopefully people see the excitement and it brings a lot of business back into the town,” Raymond said.

Raymond grew up in Peters Township. Beginning in sales and working his way up to finance, he spent years in Palm Beach, Fla., and then worked for about eight years in Morgantown, W.Va. This dealership in Charleroi marks his fourth, all in the tri-state area, and he has plans to acquire a fifth.

“I just put my head down and have been grinding for eight years,” Raymond said. “I worked when the sun came up until the sun came down. I left my house when it was dark and came home when it was dark. … It all paid off I guess, right?”

Raymond took over the Charleroi business in late September.

“Customers at first are always a little hesitant, but when they see what we’re doing with the parking lots, with spending the money on the current facilities just to plow down the current facilities for a brand new facility, the whole town is really excited,” Raymond said. “We got a lot of great feedback from the town, a lot of the support from the local community, from the county, senators. We got all kinds of support from everyone, trying to bring jobs back into Charleroi, trying to bring Charleroi back to life, per se.”

Raymond sees a lot of potential in Charleroi as a place for business.

“I think they’re just waiting for that one business to anchor it, and I think the life is going to come right back into it,” Raymond said. “Hopefully, we’re that anchor, too.”

For more information, call 724-483-5541 or go to raymondfordsh. com.