Winston-Salem dealership buys Plaza Ford
Parkway Ford in Winston-Salem has purchased Plaza Ford in Lexington , which will now be known as Parkway Ford Lincoln Mercury. Parkway owner Junie Michael, who grew up in Davidson County , said the combination of Parkway Ford on Peters Creek Parkway and Parkway Ford North on University Parkway in Winston-Salem with Plaza Ford in Lexington will create economies of scale that will benefit all three operations.
Adding Plaza also makes possible the referral of customers to Lexington for Lincolns and Mercuries, for which the Winston dealerships do not have franchises. “We’re going to operate under the same umbrella,” Michael said. “We think it’s a great opportunity.” Archie Kindle, owner/operator of Plaza Ford for the past 20 years, is retiring from Ford but will continue to own Plaza Auto Mart, a used-car business, on Cotton Grove Road.
His sons, Travis and Lamont Kindle, both former employees of Plaza Ford, are working for their father in the used-car operation. “It’s been a good 20 years, but I just felt like it was time,” Archie Kindle said. Kindle, 60, and Michael, 59, started out in the business together in the late 1960s as salesmen for Hull/Dobbs Ford in Winston-Salem . Kindle grew up in Abbotts Creek, graduated from Dunbar High School in Lexington and attended Davidson County Community College.
Michael grew up in Southmont and graduated from Central Davidson High School and Catawba College, where he now serves on the board of trustees. Michael was a member of a group that bought out Hull/Dobbs in the early ’70s and changed the name to Cloverdale Ford, which later became Regal Ford. He acquired Parkway Ford as majority owner in 1978 and now has interests in about 20 auto dealerships and one motorcycle dealership in the Carolinas and Virginia.