The cars have changed, the industry has changed and generations of customers have come and gone. But 80 years after opening in Virgil, Niagara Motors is still doing business in the community where it all began.
The Niagara-on-the-Lake dealership was founded by Frank Willms in 1946. David Dick Sr. purchased it in 1961, about four years after he started working there.
The business has remained in the Dick family ever since. Around 1976, his son, Dave Dick, took over day-to-day operations.
After marking its 80th anniversary on Nov. 6 with a community celebration at its Niagara Stone Road location, longtime staff are reflecting on the dealership’s history and the people who have shaped it.
For Dick, now the dealership’s owner and dealer principal, some of his earliest life lessons came at Niagara Motors, where he started working at just nine years old.
“I learned how to use a broom,” he said.
Now, looking back on those early years, he said it’s hard to believe how quickly time has passed.
“I was in my 20s, working 12, 14 hours a day. Now I’m a pensioner,” he said with a laugh. “It goes by in a snap.”
And Dick isn’t alone in having spent much of his life at Niagara Motors — business manager Dorothy Miller has spent 40 years helping customers through its doors and into their next vehicles.
She started as a receptionist and worked her way through several positions before taking on her current role.
Asked what’s kept her there for this long, Miller didn’t hesitate to credit the Dick family and the customers she’s come to know.
“You just get to know your customers, and just have many, many moments that you appreciate and are thankful for,” she said.
And after spending half of Niagara Motors’ 80-year history there, the anniversary means something personal.
“It’s a milestone for the family,” she said. “And I’ve been blessed to be here for half of that.”
General sales manager Troy Milinkovich has spent 25 years at Niagara Motors, where David Dick Sr. played an important role in his career.
“He was like a mentor to me,” he said.
During that time, Milinkovich has witnessed customer preferences shift, online shopping grow and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The market keeps morphing on us, changes all the time,” he said.
Milinkovich said social media has helped the dealership attract customers from outside Niagara, while longtime relationships continue to bring others back.
He recalled selling between 30 and 40 vehicles over the years to the same circle of family, friends and acquaintances.
“A lot of loyal customers,” Milinkovich said. “We’re truly blessed.”
And for Dick, the people working behind the scenes deserve just as much recognition.
He described one technician who had parts spread from one end of a service bay to the other.
“I said, if you could put this thing together, you could be a brain surgeon,” he said.
The technician did just that, without a single nut or bolt left over.
“The talent we have here is scary,” Dick said.
But competition is never far away, he said.
“Maybe we’re the only new car dealership in Virgil, but people can go to 100 other dealers within an hour drive,” Dick said, adding that the rising cost of vehicles also presents challenges.
“As they get more expensive, will people be able to afford some of the future products?”
He said the dealership’s used-vehicle business offers customers more affordable options, helping it navigate what he described as the challenges that come with changing times.
Dick said the support of the NOTL community has remained constant.
“We know so many of our customers on a first-name basis,” he said.
“The atmosphere we have in town, like in the Niagara-on-the-Lake area, it’s so different.”
“It’s trusting,” he said. “The people support us.”
Asked about a standout memory from his years at Niagara Motors, Dick said being able to give back to the community that had supported the dealership for so long was especially meaningful.
He pointed to his 29 years as chairman of the Virgil Stampede, where he worked alongside longtime secretary Mary Snider.
“The community’s been so good to us,” he said. “My highlight is giving back to the community.”
As for what comes next, Dick said he hopes Niagara Motors can leave “even a better legacy than we had the last 80 years,” emphasizing the importance of continually training staff and learning new skills.
“You can’t take things for granted in business today,” he said. “You always have to learn new things.”
