Automotive News Canada - October 2016 - V2 - 25

Oh, brothers
I
* OCTOBER 2016

By KELLY TAYLOR

WINNIPEG CORRESPONDENT

N 1926, IN THE
bustling, rural
farming town
of Souris, Man.,
Andy Murray saw
potential in the
still-young automotive sector,
putting Hudson,
Essex and Star automobiles
alongside the tractors, threshers and cultivators in his new
farm-implement store.
Little did
he know that
one decision
would grow
90 years later
into a large,
coast-to-coast
dealership
$QG\0XUUD\ group run by
his grandsons that still bears
his name.
For Dan Murray, whose Dan
Murray Chevrolet in Winnipeg
is among GM of Canada's most
awarded dealerships, the anniversary is especially rewarding considering the company
is thriving after three generations.
"There aren't that many
family businesses that make
it this far," he said. Murray
and his three brothers - Paul,
Doug and Chris - are each
general managers of their own
stores, and all four run the
group collaboratively.

The 30-store Murray Group was
scratched out of Prairie dust 90
years ago. The kids in charge now
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From the outset, Andy
Murray wanted to be a GM
dealer, a goal he would achieve
in 1934. Expansion began
in 1960 with the purchase
of Brandon Automobiles in
Brandon, Man., 50 kilometres
northeast of Souris. Murray's
Garage was on the move.
It's Andy's son Clair whom
the brothers look to as starting
the company down the road to
expansion.
"There was no big plan,"
Paul Murray said from
his Chrysler dealership in
Strathmore, Alta. "It was just
Dad looking for opportunities."
Slowly, the group grew, to
Portage la Prairie, Man., to
Winnipeg, Moose Jaw, Sask.,
Medicine Hat., Alta., and
beyond. Today, there are 30
stores. ("It might be 31," Dan
says.) While early on, the business was exclusively GM,

today the group also comprises
Hyundai, Honda, Chrysler and
Kia dealers. It stretches from
Yarmouth, N.S., to White Rock,
B.C.
Not all the stores fly the
Murray name. In Dauphin,
Man., Dean Cooley's name is on
the sign. In Portage la Prairie,
it's Craig Dunn's. Dan Murray
said it's an important distinction, not just to provide local
flavour, but also to reinforce
the autonomy each general
manager is expected to exercise.

SCALE MEANS KNOWLEDGE

"I think the size isn't just
about economics," said Cooley,
the second Murray employee
after Dunn to partner as a general manager. "It's about sharing knowledge.
"If you do go to one of the
meetings and someone points
out a problem, it's never to

I started out swatting
flies at an auction . . .
Dad paid me
a penny a fly.
PAUL MURRAY

Chrysler dealership owner

FAMILY MATTERS

"The thing is, we all get
along so well, and our wives
all get along, that when we're
together, people think we all
married sisters," he said, not
mentioning that he and Paul
actually did marry sisters.
Ask Dan Murray when he
started in the business, and he
doesn't have a straight answer.
"You know, I don't really
have a memory of 'starting' in
the business, because it was
always a part of my life."

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criticize, but just to make sure
you're aware of it," he said.
"If you are struggling, it's
always about putting an arm
around your shoulders and saying 'Here's what we can do to
help.'"
All of it is grounded in the
values handed down from
Andy, to Clair and to his grandsons today, said Cooley. No one
got anything easily: Dan swept
floors, reconciled cash, sold
cars, ran parts and worked his
way up.
All four brothers began
their careers at the bottom.
"I started out swatting flies
at an auction," Paul said. "That
was my first job. Dad paid me a
penny a fly."
One day in the 1950s, Clair

sold a car to a farmer in
Saskatchewan, and drove out
to deliver it the same day, Paul
said.
"So, he took a trade-in [from
the customer], and on his way
home, he stopped and sold
that trade-in and took another trade-in, continued for
home and then before he got to
Souris, sold that trade-in and
had to call Uncle Dell to come
pick him up.
"It's all about being good
with people; with farmers, you
go and see them because maybe
it's harvest and they don't have
time to come in," Paul said.
"Dad did that and sold four
cars in the same trip."
The next generation is also
on its way. Dan's son, Mitchell,
is now a sales manager, having
paid his dues as a sales rep.
It hasn't always been easy,
and an ability to adapt was
paramount. From the Second
World War, when car sales
slowed to a crawl, to the collapse of leasing in 2008, the family has had to think on its feet.
"In the space of a weekend,
we lost leasing," Dan Murray
said. "That was 50 per cent of
my sales. But, we rolled out
84-month financing and we
found a way to keep going."
- ANC

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - October 2016 - V2