Barber Ford Director of Marketing Diana DePrimo holds a photograph of the very first showroom and used car dealership at the Exeter location.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Shown is a Barber Ford advertisment from 1950 selling a vehicle for $1,418.65.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
EXETER – The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has beaten up a lot of businesses and Barber Ford Inc. is no different, but once they had government clearance to sell and repair vehicles, they have been bouncing back as they celebrate their 100th year in business.
The business began in 1920 when Michael Barber started the Barber Motor Car Co. selling Willy’s Overland cars (present-day Jeeps) and Dort Motor vehicles, but it wasn’t until 1932 when he was able to secure a Ford franchise all on West Oak St., Pittston.
As the company grew so did the demand for a larger showroom and repair shop. Land was acquired at 962 Wyoming Avenue, Exeter, and in 1952, the dealership moved to the new and present location.
Joseph Bonomo, nephew of Barber, upon returning from serving in the U.S. Navy in 1957, began working at the dealership at the request of his uncle. Bonomo started working in the parts department before moving to a sales position.
Bonomo era
Joe and his future wife, Miriam, began dating while both were working at Barber Ford and a month after he returned from active duty; the two were married in Oct. 5, 1957.
After Miriam gave birth to her first child Suzanne in 1958, she retired from the business. She would eventually have three other children, daughters Barbara and Judy and son Tony.
In 1969, Michael Barber passed away elevating Bonomo from sales to president. After the death of Barber, Joe and Miriam became partners with Barber’s daughter Regina. In 1985, Joe and Miriam became sole proprietors of the business buying Regina’s shares.
“We were happy about buying the company, but Joe and I went through that summer not knowing if the Ford Motor Co. would keep us,” Miriam said. “After all, Joe was only 39 years old when he took over, but we were thrilled when it all finally went through.”
Tragedy strikes
In 1984, Bonomo’s son-in-law Matt DePrimo, married to Suzanne, joined Barber Ford bringing with him his expertise from the business world.
With DePrimo on board, the dealership continued to grow but tragedy struck on Dec. 1, 1989, when Bonomo was in a disabling car accident when a deer ran into his car while on a hunting trip at the age of 57.
After Bonomo’s accident, DePrimo took over the day-to-day operations at Barber Ford and was later joined by Bonomo’s son, Tony, in 1993 sharing management duties after he graduated from Dickinson College.
“When Matt started, he brought in fresh, new ideas and the dealership began to expand,” Miriam said. “I have a lot to be thankful when Matt was there when Joe had his accident.”
“Since 1989 it’s basically been growth for us,” DePrimo said. “We acquired what was the Sunoco station next door, four-acres of land in the back of the building. In 1997, we doubled he size of facility adding another 15,000 square feet with a new collision center and service area.”
Always moving forward
Barber Ford Inc. acquired Hazleton Ford in 1999 under the ownership of DePrimo and Tony Bonomo. Both men currently share management duties at both locations.
“That store had five owners, and we were the fifth owner in a five-year stretch,” DePrimo said. “We were able to take over a store that was doing really poorly, and it’s been a success for the last 21 years.”
The Barber Ford Hazleton dealership underwent a huge transformation also bringing the facility up to Ford standards.
Two years ago, Barber Ford took on a new challenge becoming a commercial vehicle center.
“Somewhat off the beaten path, we’ve created a niche for ourselves becoming the biggest commercial dealer in all of Northeastern PA,” DePrimo said. “We were looking for a niche and saw the opportunity and capitalized it.”
Last year, Barber Ford, completed a $1 million facelift in complying with Ford’s interior and exterior designs.
“We just recently, in 2019, redid the facility a second time doing all the Ford recommended upgrades like the facade, all new furniture, customer waiting area including a second waiting room to comply with Ford.”
2020 and COVID-19
The entire country came to a standstill in March, and Barber Ford sales and service was on hold with no idea of when business could return to normal.
During the shutdown and with the blessing of DePrimo, longtime employee Marty Jordan came up with the idea of creating a makeshift food bank distribution center at the dealership. The program was a huge success conducting the drive for a month.
Since Gov. Tom Wolf allowed dealerships to begin selling vehicles, people have been back in the showroom wearing masks and being socially distanced.
“Back in March and April, when we couldn’t sell a car we were basically a skeleton crew at that point in time,” DePrimo said. “Since then we’ve rebounded, and business has been actually better the last three months than it was a year ago. We are catching up rapidly; We’re not totally caught up to where we were last year, but we are moving at a very fast pace.”
DePrimo admitted inventories have been depleting since the COVID-19 shutdown but with assembly plants restarting, he said he anticipates numbers will be back to normal in the near future.
Family affair
Barber Ford Inc. has always been a family affair since the beginning. Miriam Bonomo carries on as the president of the group, DePrimo as vice president and COO, Tony Bonomo as treasurer.
DePrimo’s daughter Diana began her career working for the Ford Motor Co. corporate office as a zone manager in New York and Connecticut for three-years before taking the job as marketing director at Barber Ford.
DePrimo’s brother Joe has been selling used cars for over 20 years and his cousin, the late 1st Lt. Jeffrey DePrimo, killed in action in Afghanistan, was a reconditioning technician at the dealership.
“Having family members here all the time makes our dealership special,” DePrimo explained. “We have a great staff but it’s nice to have family involved.”
Looking ahead
DePrimo and Bonomo feel the two dealerships are in a good place, aside of the pandemic, and are pleased with the way both facilities are progressing.
“At this point, we want to continue to operate and grow out of our existing facilities,” DePrimo said. “The fact that we just did a $1 million renovation, we are poised to really move forward in the environment that we are at.”
Next year, look for Ford to enter into the electric vehicle movement adding three vehicles to their line up, a Mustang, a van and the F-150 truck.
“We want to continue on our commercial vehicles, invest heavily in the used side of the business and continue to operate service in the collision centers as we’ve been.” DePrimo said.
100th anniversary
While there are no immediate plans to have a formal 100th anniversary celebration, thanks to the pandemic, Barber Ford will look forward to the day they can honor the milestone and get a chance to thank all those patrons that have purchased or serviced vehicles over the decades.
