Zeller Ford in Ark City has new owners and a new name.
Brothers Blake and Austin Salinas of Crosby, Texas near Houston completed the purchase Jan. 10 and the dealership is now called Friendly Ford of Arkansas City.
“There’s great history with this location and a lot of upside,” Austin Salinas told Cowley Post Monday. “We feel like we can pull from different markets and this store is small enough to get our arms around it.”
Austin said they were looking for other opportunities when a broker reached out to them about the Ark City Ford dealer.
“We really like the central location for the region,” he said. “It checked a lot of our boxes and fits a formula we’ve been successful with.”
The Salinas brothers are 50/50 partners and bought the store from Wit Goebel, who will retain Zeller Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep just south of the Ford location on North Summit.
The Salinas brothers have Kansas ties via their parents.
Their father grew up in Garden City and their mom grew up in the Olathe area.
Both went to the University of Kansas. After graduation, their father, Fred, worked for Ford on the corporate side before he became a dealer in Dallas.
After Dallas, the family moved to the Houston area and opened Friendly Ford of Crosby in the early 2000s.
Like his parents, Austin, 43, is also a KU alum. Younger brother Blake, 39, went to the University of Houston before going into the Marines where he was a captain and saw combat in Afghanistan.
Austin said they have retained Zeller Ford’s employees and employ 18 in Ark City.
“We have a good existing team,” he said.
The store’s general manager, Jim Johnson, also of Texas, moved to Ark City in late December.
Both brothers, who graduated through the National Automotive Dealership Academy, said a lot has changed in the car sales world since their dad started.
“Digital marketing has become a much, much bigger draw,” Blake said.
While there is an EV component to their Texas store, Austin said the focus in Ark City will be traditional gas/diesel engines and powertrains with a focus on increasing new car inventory — including Super Duty trucks and SUVs, like the new Bronco.
“Competition is good for prices and the community,” Austin said. “We want to be involved with the community, its schools and support our customers.”
