St. Louis supplier Frank Bommarito died Monday at 88.
Bommarito, who based Bommarito Automotive Group greater than 50 years in the past and expanded it throughout the St. Louis area, died peacefully in his house in Naples, Fla., surrounded by his household, KMOV4 reported. A submit on the dealership group’s web site confirmed his loss of life.
Bommarito received his begin in automotive retailing in 1952 when he went to work at a neighborhood Pontiac dealership as a porter, in keeping with an organization historical past on the group’s web site and an obituary posted on-line. After coming back from two years of lively responsibility within the Navy throughout the Korean War, Bommarito labored in automotive gross sales, ultimately changing into a gross sales supervisor at one other Pontiac dealership.
The firm credit Bommarito’s success in motivating and managing personnel as the explanation General Motors in 1971 awarded him an Oldsmobile franchise in Ellisville, Mo. That Oldsmobile retailer marked the start of what would develop into a big dealership group.
Bommarito oversaw and expanded the enterprise for 27 years earlier than his son, John Bommarito, grew to become president in 1998. By that point, Frank Bommarito had expanded the enterprise to places throughout Missouri, in keeping with the corporate historical past, including such manufacturers as Mazda, Cadillac, Nissan and Infiniti. Frank Bommarito was a 2015 nominee for the Time Dealer of the Year award, which honors franchised new-vehicle sellers for his or her dealership efficiency and neighborhood service
Bommarito Automotive Group ranked No. 72 on Automotive News’ most up-to-date listing of the highest 150 dealership teams based mostly within the U.S., with retail gross sales of 13,697 new automobiles in 2021. The firm reported having 17 dealerships in early 2022 when the information for the rating was gathered.
According to Bommarito’s obituary, the group now employs greater than 1,000 individuals. That obituary quoted Bommarito as saying that “giving a person a job was the best thing you could do for someone.”
Source: www.autonews.com
