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TOMS RIVER – Downs Ford, an auto dealership that traces its roots back to the 1930s, is now under new ownership with a new name, Celebrity Ford of Toms River.
The sale was between two women, the daughter of one longtime auto dealer and the daughter of another. It was the first woman-to-woman sale of a Ford dealership in the car maker’s history, said Dave Cantin, executive chairman and chief executive officer of the Dave Cantin Group, which arranged the transaction.
Melissa Longo, a third-generation operator who has owned the dealership since 2015, sold it to Veronica Maoli and Celebrity Motor Cars, a group founded by her father Tom Maoli that owns and operates several dealerships including Lexus of Route 10 in Whippany, Maserati of Morris County, Alfa Romeo of Morris County, Maserati of Bergen County, and BMW of Springfield.
“It is so unbelievable in an industry that is so heavily male dominated to have two women exchange their legacies,” Cantin said.
Downs Ford
Originally Lakehurst Motors, Downs Ford traces its history back to the early 1930s. With an ownership change, it became Downs Ford in 1955.
Longo’s grandfather Nelson Riccardi Sr., a service manager and William Arden, general sales manager, purchased the dealership in the late 1970s. “They went from working there for Bill Downs to owning the dealership,” Longo said.
Their sons, Tom Arden and Longo’s dad, Nelson Riccardi Jr., purchased the dealerships, and other family members later got into ownership, too. Longo, working with her father, has spent 40 years at Downs Ford and became sole owner in 2015.
“An opportunity presented itself through the Dave Cantin Group. My minority partner and I decided now might be a good time to exit,” said Longo, 53. “I’m not old enough to retire yet and I’m certainly young enough to start a new chapter so I will definitely be doing something entrepreneurial.”
Celebrity Ford of Toms River
A businesswoman, Veronica Maoli, 25, has worked with her father, Tom Maoli, owner of Celebrity Motor Cars. Her family has deep experience in the business community with her father building a logistics business before buying his first car dealership, a Lexus dealership, about 11 years ago.
She started a real estate business, operating out of her father’s offices at the Lexus dealership. While there, she became interested in the car business, observed her father and became involved about four years ago. Like other industries, it’s about selling products and serving customers, she said.
“I never thought that I’d be involved in the car industry, but you know, I learned and observed … and I became really interested in it,” Veronica Maoli said. She jumped in and completed the National Automobile Dealer Association Academy’s year-long training for dealership leaders. “I just kept learning and I continue to learn every single day,” she said.
Afterward, the deal to purchase Downs Ford started to percolate. And now she’s co-owner and operator of Celebrity Ford of Toms River.
The match-up
Longo said the Maolis were a “perfect fit.” The dealership went from a father-daughter business to another father-daughter business, she said. She noted that both she and Maoli graduated from the dealer academy at the same age.
“It was just a unique opportunity. I felt really comfortable with her and I think she’s going to do an amazing job,” Longo said. “It was really important for me to be able to pass the torch to a company and individuals that I felt were going to be a great representation of the legacy that we’ve built in Toms River, and also for our team members.”
The acquisition was an “amazing experience,” Maoli said.
“Both of us were very comfortable knowing that I was going to be continuing on with my dad, the same kind of family tradition that her and her father had for so many years,” Maoli said. “We’re both family-owned businesses, family-oriented businesses.”
The future
Maoli said Celebrity Ford will bring the unique, personalized and “very luxury experience” of Celebrity Motor Cars’ other dealerships to Toms River.
It will include pick-up and delivery of vehicles for both sales and service as well as a shuttle service. Maoli said they have already upgraded the waiting areas, which includes televisions, snacks and coffee among the amenities.
Maoli is one of a small, but growing crowd: women who own car dealerships. Of New Jersey’s 510 dealer locations, at least 47 are owned by women or has a woman listed as the operator, said Jim Appleton, president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers.
More women are becoming owners, Appleton said.
“Car businesses are the quintessential family businesses,” he said. “While in the past, the dealerships would pass generation to generation, it was always the son. Now I m seeing more and more women.”
Women entrepreneurs see the car business as a “retail business where the customer is king and you have to cater to customer tastes and trends,” Appleton said.
David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for nearly 25 years. He writes APP.com’s What’s Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Join his What’s Going There page on Facebook for updates.
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