Go Auto, new owners of Kingland Ford, pledge $1M to Hay River rec centre
King family sells most of group of companies to Go Auto, retains Kal Tire
Hay River is about to get a big gift from a new player now that Go Auto has pledged $1 million to the town's proposed recreation centre renovations.
Go Auto, which owns 35 vehicle dealerships across Western Canada, is in the midst of purchasing several local businesses from the King family, including their Kingland Ford Dealerships in Yellowknife and Hay River, Kingland Freightliner, King Manufacturing, Klassic Autobody and the Hay River Esso station.
The Kings, who have been involved in the N.W.T.'s vehicle industry since 1966 — when they first opened a home-based repair shop in Hay River — will retain ownership of Kal Tire/Tire North.
In a Facebook post on Monday, the King family said that an agreement had been reached with Go Auto that will allow all current employees to be retained, with job security.
"We certainly appreciate your business over the past 50 years," the post read. "The decision to sell was certainly not an easy decision however, we feel it is the right decision for the King Family."
'We still have healthy competition'
Go Auto is well-known in Yellowknife — the company also owns Yellowknife Chrysler, another local dealership.
Lee Cawson is moving to Hay River to manage the business. He says despite the fact that the dealerships have common owners, they'll have different managers, which creates competition.
"We don't operate from a central office, per se," said Cawson. "A lot of the decisions are made in the store. So they still compete within ourselves.
"That competition is still there between us, and I think at the end it still benefits the consumer because they're still trying to be as successful as they can be at each location."
As for the sponsorship, Cawson called it a "really great way to kick things off" in Hay River. Go Auto will take control of the various businesses from the King family on September 30.
"That doesn't end the community contributions that we're going to do here," he said. "So those things that the king family did over the years — the hockey teams and bake sales and church groups, all those things. We're going to sponsor those as well."
Cawson says the contribution will be made in installments of $100,000 over 10 years.
Early estimate for the cost of the renovations to the recreation centre put the figure at approximately $21 million.