Orr celebrates legacy of quality, customer service

The oldest car dealership in Texarkana, built on ingenuity and customer service, retains those qualities today and remains one of the top names in the car business in the Four States Area.

Orr Chevrolet, named for Guss Orr, who bought the former Cargile Motor Co. in the 1940s, is still going strong, with a third generation of leadership holding the steering wheel.

Joel Orr runs the business with his cousin Keith Orr. They are grandchildren of Guss, who had the moxie and forethought to keep cars running in Texarkana during the Depression and World War II.

Joel told the story of how Guss would take his sons, David and Maurice, on the train to find what was needed for cars during the time, as the parts weren’t available at local stores.

“We had the Depression in the ’30s and the war in the early ’40s. They survived all that,” Joel said. “They used to get on the train and ride up to Pennsylvania and all up the East Coast and buy cars and parts and batteries and tires. Guss would take Mo (Maurice) with him and they would fill rail cars up with anything they had to sell because no one down here had anything to sell.”

During that time, General Motors quit making cars and began making military vehicles instead, Orr said.

“It was hard enough to keep the business open and then they didn’t have any products to sell,” Joel added “Texarkana probably wasn’t much of a priority in the supply chain. Back then, it was pretty much if you wanted to have anything to sell, you had to go fight and have a place to buy it. Cars didn’t last long, and roads were bad. So tires, parts and batteries were a huge deal. Now the service part of the business is–cars are just good. We take it for granted. People get upset because their car will break down at 100,000 miles. Dad said that back then, when a car got 10,000 miles, they’d throw it away because it was worthless.”

Guss’ hard work paid off when he was given the option to purchase Cargile Motor Co., which was downtown.

“Mr. Cargile told Guss that if he could keep the store open during the Depression and the war that he’d sell it to him, so he bought it in the 40s,” Joel said.

Guss ran the dealership, then David and Maurice began working full time with their father around 1956, Joel estimated. Plans were being drawn up for Interstate 30 to come through the north portion of the city, and in the midto late 1960’s, the Orr family bought the land where the State Line Avenue dealership now sits.

“Everyone started moving north, out of downtown, so they bought some land,” he said. “The town hadn’t yet grown that way. So when they built the dealership there, people would joke with them, saying ‘Hey, why are you building a dealership all the way in Ashdown?’ That’s how far out they thought it was.”

While that location was being constructed, Guss suffered a stroke and later died, with his sons taking over his interest in Orr Chevrolet. They continued the legacy until Maurice’s son Keith began working with the family business around 1990.

At that time, dealership strategy changed nationwide, with owners being allowed to own more than one dealership. Orr started expanding, buying locations in Atlanta and Hot Springs. Then in 2000, they switched to the model of selling stock to their general managers. That’s been the key to growing to 32 dealerships in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas and Alabama, Joel said.

“Most of our general managers/partners are from Texarkana. They are people who have come up through the ranks here at the Texarkana dealerships that we know and trust and they’re small town people. Partners that have bought in that are owner operators are what’s enabled us to grow and take advantage of opportunities.”

He said their business is all about people, processes and inventory.

“If a guy on site running it owns part of it and has a vested interest, it’s got a lot better chance for success,” Joel said. “So think about a company like us, who started out with one guy in downtown Texarkana to now 30-plus dealerships, and out of our 32 dealerships I think every store but Texarkana has a general manager partner and they’ve all worked in the Texarkana stores. That’s been our model.

“You look at how different other family businesses have operated, other car dealerships, people asked me one time, ‘How do you keep your family business going?’ Part of it, how our business has lasted three generations, is our family makes you work. Keeping track of taking care of the customer and the employees and the combination of owner operators on site is the key. And being in smaller communities where the community cares about their local businesses is important.”

Although he’s been retired since 1989, David Orr unlocks the doors of Orr Chevrolet at 7:30 each morning.

“He comes up here because he likes it,” Joel said. “He’s got his customers he takes care of so he kind of sets the example for everyone.”

Joel’s brother Jason is also in the family business and runs the Arkansas dealerships from the Searcy, Ark., location.

Joel said the Internet and technology have changed the business since he’s been in it and that he foresees the industry consolidating, with products and processes changing over time to make the buying process easier.

“We try to invest in new things all the time to make the buying process easier. You’ll be buying a car on an iPad here in a year or two. We’re trying to go paperless,” he said.

The dealership also uses market-based pricing where a software program compares prices for all their competitors, allowing them to price all their cars below average.

“It takes a lot of the guesswork and homework out of the deal, so buying a car now is really easy,” he said.

Orr Chevrolet was also looking to the future 10 years ago when they moved the Chevy and Honda dealerships northwest of 1-30 to Guss Orr Drive, he said, as the town is moving that way.

One thing will never change, Joel said, no matter what year it is.

“We’re all in the South where getting in the car and driving to Atlanta, Shreveport or Hope for a ball tournament or to Millwood or anything like that—it is our freedom and that’s what we cherish,” he said. “It’s still America and part of America is freedom.”