Earl Hayes had already worked for Chevrolet from 1925 in a variety of managerial positions in Dallas, Detroit, and Oklahoma, when he returned to Dallas in 1945 and partnered with Roy Hill to purchase the John E. Morris Chevrolet Co. at Ninth & Lancaster (also listed as 132 Lancaster). In 1949 Hayes bought the dealership outright from Hill and built one of the largest showrooms in Dallas at the 9th & Lancaster location. He also operated a used car and truck dealership at Commerce & Industrial.
The slogan "Come out our way, trade your way" appeared in ads in 1949, and Hayes apparently stuck with the saying for the duration of his dealership.
About 1974 Earl brought his son, Robert T. (Bob) Hayes on board, and in June 1975 the result of their partnership, Bob Hayes Chevrolet Co., began operating at its new location at Marvin D. Love Freeway and Wheatland Road. Sometime in the 1990's the dealership became Powell Chevy. In 2011 Robert T. Hayes was Chairman of the Board of Hayes Truck Inc. in Dallas.
See also Phorum at Dallas History Society.
I bought my first new car in 1975 from Mr. Pat Patterson at Bob Hayes Chevrolet. They were still located at the Ninth and Lancaster location, but were to move soon to the new location at Highway 67 and Wheatland Road. People told Hayes that he was crazy to move so far out in the city, as there was nothing out there at the time (Redbird Mall was not far from the dealership and had been in operation for several years). Hayes laughed at these naysayers believing that the area would soon "explode" with growth. Well, the rest is history, as Hayes was right - the others were wrong. The dealership operated under the Hayes name actually until the late 1980's when the name was changed to Sunshine Chevrolet with Hayes owning 50% and two minority owners with 25% each. The dealership later was sold to John Powell and renamed Powell Chevrolet. The dealership today operates under the name of Freedom Chevrolet-Buick-GMC and has been remodeled and updated. As for me, I bought a new 1975 Chevrolet Vega from Bob Hayes Chevy and kept it six months before trading it for a new 1975 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Talk about a trade up! As for Pat Patterson, he stayed with the dealership through the Powell ownership and retired after 53 years in the car business. It is interesting to note that throughout all of his career, he sold only Chevrolet automobiles, and worked for only one dealership for all of his career. Upon his retirement, he was honored by General Motors for having worked for one dealer continuously throughout his career, and for having this distinction of longevity in the United States. Needless to say, he had served the automobile needs of literally thousands of customers throughout his career. He loved to tell stories of selling cars to customers children and grandchildren! Pat Patterson died in 2002 in Grapevine, TX.
ReplyDeleteMy dad Jim Hogue was a salesman for Earl Hayes Chevrolet at Commerce and Industrial from 1958 to 1967. He won a lot of sales awards while working there. He told stories of some of the people he sold trucks to and one of them was Glenn Campbell’s dad.
ReplyDeleteMy father I.T. Hurst was the credit manager there in the early 60s before taking a new car sales job at Orand Buick.
ReplyDeleteI Lived at the corner of sunset & bishop between 1968 & 1970 as a teenager...I can still remember walking up & down busy jefferson strip...Oak Cliff residents were very friendly...fond memories
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