Haddad Auto Marks 90 Years
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Over the last 90 years, Haddad Auto has withstood many changes but one thing has remained the same: its commitment to its staff and community.
Even after all these years, the dealership remains a family business, run by third-generation owner George L. Haddad.
The dealership has gone on to win awards in service excellence, and customer satisfaction. The Toyota stores have earned the President's Award for 16 years in a row, Haddad said.
There are a few things that make a legacy–the employees and the community, Haddad said.
These are the things that his grandfather, George A. Haddad, established when he opened the business on East Street in 1932.
Haddad’s grandfather moved to North Adam from Lebanon in eighth grade and immediately started working in grocery stores to help support his family.
Haddad said from the beginning, his grandfather was a hard worker.
"He was a pretty sharp guy to come over with an eighth-grade education. He knew what he was doing and ran successful businesses," Haddad said.
Haddad said he started working for the dealership at the age of 12, cleaning cars. Before he could even drive, he started selling cars. At the age of 15, he sold his first car, a 1975 Pontiac.
"I sold five [cars] in a week, and I had to sit in the backseat because I couldn't drive," Haddad said.
The dealership has undergone a variety of changes. Starting as a Pontiac dealership, it expanded into Toyota, Jeep, Buick, Hyundai, Ford, Subaru, and Chevy among others.
Today the dealership operates three car brands, Subaru, Toyota, and Hyundai, in addition to offering everything automotive-related including a collision center, rental services, and an on-site insurance company.
"[Success] doesn't get handed to you. I'm blessed in one sense that I was handed an opportunity, but I still had to take advantage of the opportunity. I still had to grow that opportunity," Haddad said. "So, you have to take advantage of an opportunity, work, find opportunities, find different things, and work hard to make it work."
The road to success was not always clear. The family had to adjust to markets and economic changes.
When General Electric cut its workforce in half, Pittsfield went through a recession which created challenges for the dealership.
"I was almost broke," Haddad said.
Toyota sent one of its employees, John Brown, to help steer Haddad back in the right direction.
Recalling his interaction with Brown, Haddad said Brown asked him two questions: "Do you really know what the problem is with the dealership and do you know what the solution is?"
At the time Haddad was unsure what the answer was, assuming it was a bunch of little things he was doing wrong.
Brown led Haddad to his office bathroom and had him look in the mirror and asked: "what do you see?"
"So, I say 'me.' He says, 'That's your problem and that's your solution. You're the problem, and you can be the solution.' He said, 'If you want to be the solution and fix things, I'll be glad to sit with you. We'll go through everything and we'll figure it out.'" Haddad said.
And that is exactly what they did.
Haddad said they sat down, rebalanced the books, and had to lay off 10 employees to adjust to the economic change.
They started to make money again the following month.
Like his grandfather, Haddad has donated time and money to various organizations including Rites of Passage and Empowerment, Berkshire Humane Society, Strong Little Souls, and more.
"I think if you do well enough you've got to help out. There's places that need help," Haddad said.
He has mentored youth with the Big Brother program which has since left the area but continues the work with the Boys and Girls Club.
"I just believe in helping the youth that want to help themselves as best you can," Haddad said.
This sense of hard work passed down by his grandfather has always been with Haddad. He said nothing was just given to him, and he noted that in college he worked as a waiter for Friendly's.
He learned to treat customers nicely, even when the restaurant was busy because that encouraged them to come back, tip better, and request to sit in his section.
During his time there he also had to deal with a "crotchety" manager who was mean to the employees.
Haddad said these lessons guide him as a business owner and manager to this day.
"I learned from it. You don't need to treat people that way," he said.
He hopes this legacy of hard work continues with his children. Working to achieve your goals is something he has tried to instill in his son, Ben, and daughter, Julia. At the age of 14, they both started to work at the restaurant Mazzeo's.
Both his children are in college now and have expressed an interest in continuing the family business but he will be happy even if they choose not to.
"I am very proud of both of them. They are both great kids," Haddad said.
More information here: https://www.haddadauto.com/
