It’s taken two and a half years to build and it’s still not fully complete, but the new Westwind Honda dealership owned by Greg Flom and partners Gord and Paul McDonald is open for business in Lethbridge.
It is a dream come true for Flom, who has a lineage in automotive retail. His father, Monty, worked in the car business from 1968-1989. He became the owner of a Dodge dealership in 1980 and then sold it to the Gauthier Auto Group in 1989. Greg’s brother Ralph, who is now retired, worked as the internal auditor for Go Auto and Auto Canada. Greg wrote in his Grade 9 yearbook he wanted to pursue a career as a car salesman.
The 30,000 foot dealership, which opened less than a month ago, was built on land owned by the McDonalds and has a footprint three times the size as the previous Westwind Honda dealership. The McDonalds own separate Nissan and Chevrolet dealerships in Lethbridge. Flom told Canadian auto dealer the previous dealership had outgrown its size and Honda wanted a new store to be built.
“Paul and Gord sort of left me alone and let me do my thing through the whole project,” said Flom. “It was sort of a labour of love for me. It’s something I hadn’t done before and I wanted to do it. I allowed my people to run the (existing) dealership, while I oversaw the building on the new one. We still have some electrical work to be completed and a few other deficiencies, but we’re here and it’s still a nicer facility than our previous building.”
Greg Flom
It is the latest facet in Flom’s automotive dealer career, which has spanned more than 40 years — 30 of those in management. His dealership has won the Honda Award of Excellence seven consecutive years, including the top performer in the prairies several times. He has held positions as President of the Lethbridge Auto Dealers Association, and Board Member of the Motor Dealers of Alberta. He is a member of the Honda Dealer’s Advisory Team and has served as President of the Alberta Honda Ad Association for many years.
He had worked in Winnipeg for the Birchwood Automotive Group from 2002 to 2015 as General Manager. Birchwood Automotive Group owner and CEO Steve Chipman said Flom was instrumental in starting up Birchwood’s subprime business. In 2014, Flom was approached by Barry McFadden about becoming the Managing Partner/GM in McFadden Honda in Lethbridge.
“My dad became an owner when I was 17 and he retired when I was 27,” said Flom. “I always wanted to have my own store. Once I saw my dad had done it, I wanted to be able to have my own store. Although it took me far too long to become President and Dealer Principal, it shows what perseverance will do. I have always put employee satisfaction first.”
Flom said, due to the costs, McFadden didn’t want to invest in a new store. In February 2022, Flom and the McDonalds bought out McFadden, who was in his eighties and looking to sell.
“Having us involved helped facilitate that transaction,” said Paul McDonald.
Flom said he had plenty of other dealers who wanted to partner with him, but they all wanted to be the majority owner and that wasn’t acceptable to him. “I wanted to control my destiny, so I needed to be the majority owner.”
The McDonalds have been a great fit. They have a family history in the automotive retail and implement business that began in 1942. Flom said the McDonalds had a great reputation and owned a parcel of land that was vacant and close to the existing location. It was originally going to be used to build a new Nissan store across the street, but the decision was made to renovate the existing facility.
Flom said one of the conditions of partnering with the McDonalds in the new store is he would be the majority owner of the dealership. They each have a one-third interest in the land holding company.
He consulted with Birchwood Automotive Group owner and CEO Steve Chipman in 2004 about the design of the new dealership. Chipman suggested the three partners use the same design and construction people he hired to build several new dealerships the last few years.
Chipman is not surprised about what Flom has done during his career, in particular wanting to become a dealer. “Greg always wanted to be a dealer, to be his own guy. I knew that was his longtime dream.”
The Honda dealership is a single-point store and Flom has indicated he and the McDonalds have been approached about selling it. Flom said at age 62 he is not ready to retire. He also said there are some opportunities for synergies among the three dealerships, but the focus has been on the construction of the new dealership.
“We do operate the new dealership as a single place,” said Flom.
