Ford Groves marks 100th anniversary

Two world wars, economic depressions and recessions that produced double-digit sales dips, government sales-tax disagreements and high gas prices haven't stopped Ford Groves.

A century after founding owner Fred A. Groves began selling cars in Cape Girardeau in 1914, his dealership is celebrating its biggest milestone yet this month.

Ford representatives, dealership employees and their families gathered Wednesday at the North Kingshighway lot for a special luncheon to honor 100 years in business. On display were artifacts. Some, such as a sales statement from 1915, dated back to when the dealership opened a small showroom and office inside the Himmelberger-Harrison Building on Broadway.

In 1914, there were fewer cars registered in the entire county of Cape Girardeau -- 61 -- than today wait for a new owner at the local Ford lot. But not many people then would believe today's developments in transportation that would occur in such a short time.

A bank officer working with Groves as he opened his dealership said he believed automobiles were "a passing fancy" that would never replace a horse and buggy, wrote Southeast Missourian staff writer Don Gordon, who chronicled the story of Ford Groves for a 50th-anniversary story in 1964.

Ford Groves celebrates its 100th year in business Wednesday in Cape Girardeau with a special luncheon and memorabilia on display.

Over the decades, Groves became a household name along with the popular Ford brand he offered. For more than 60 years, Groves, as the principal owner of the Cape Girardeau dealership and several others spread throughout the region, supplied the latest car models for residents, delivery vans and work trucks for businesses and police cars for local governments.

And since Fred sounded a lot like Ford, he picked up the nickname "Ford" Groves.

Only a handful of times in the history of the business has it been sold, said general manager Bob Neff, whose father-in-law, William Schicker, who took over ownership in 1986 from Ed Massey, Cliff Irwin and Dennis Underwood -- three long-trusted employees who bought it from Groves in 1972. Family members of the late Massey and Irwin attended the luncheon. Underwood, who began working for Groves in 1958, still works at the Cape Girardeau dealership.

A really unique thing about the business, said Neff, is the name. It's memorable to people, he said.

"Most places you would go into would be Groves Ford," Neff said. "When we bought it, we recognized that, and we also couldn't turn our back on what had become almost 75 years of a name."

LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com Ford Groves celebrates its anniversary Wednesday in Cape Girardeau by displaying memorabilia from its century in business.

Ford Groves, apart from being one of the area's oldest businesses, is also the 25th-oldest Ford dealership in the country.

Current dealership locations are in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3632

Pertinent address:

1501 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, MO

825 E. Jackson Blvd., Jackson, MO