Heads, we win

Black Enterprise, June, 1995 by Dan Holly

DETROIT WAS BURNING. THE YEAR WAS 1967, AND the city's frustrated, economically isolated black community had erupted into fiery riots. Whites were fleeing the city. The powers that be, represented by a coalition of business, government and community leaders called New Detroit, were trying to find ways to heal the city and prevent further violence and destruction.

They knew they had to give blacks a larger share of the economic pie. But this realization was not driven by humanitarian motives alone: White-owned businesses were pulling up stakes, and few other whites were interested in filling the vacuum. It was at this point that Ford Motor Chairman Henry Ford directed his managers to get more black auto dealers on board.

It just so happened that, two years later, a white-owned dealership came up for sale at just the time the Conyers family was looking to go into business. They were certainly familiar with the industry, since John Conyers Sr. had spent his life working on the Chrysler assembly line. Conyers Sr. and his sons, John Jr. and Nathan, quickly plunked down $400,000 for the franchise, with most of the financing supplied by Ford. But then came the question: Who would run the newly acquired family business? John Sr. was enjoying retirement, and two of his sons had passed away. The task fell to either John Jr. or Nathan.

John Jr. was a congressman, but Nathan, then a senior partner in a downtown law firm, was making more money. Nathan Conyers recalls how the decision was made: "John Jr. pulled out a coin and said, 'I'll tell you what. Let's flip and see who's going to leave what they're doing.'"

Nathan lost the coin toss--or won it, depending on one's viewpoint--and became president of Conyers Ford. Rep. Conyers chuckles today when reminded of the coin toss, "What better way was there to do it?"

In January of 1970, Conyers Ford--which later became Conyers Riverside Ford--was born. Since deciding his future with the toss of a coin, Conyers has seen auto dealers come and go in the Motor City, but he's still in business. Not only has he been selling vehicles longer than any other black auto dealer in the United States, he is the only auto dealer to appear in every listing of the nation's largest black-owned businesses since the BE 100 was first published in 1973.

While a testament to black business achievement, the remarkable 25-year journey of Conyers Riverside Ford also provides valuable lessons for those who want to build successful businesses into the next century. Odds are, Conyers Riverside Ford will be right there with them. For these reasons, on the occasion of its silver anniversary, BLACK ENTERPRISE recognizes Conyers Riverside Ford President Nathan G. Conyers as the 1995 Auto Dealer of the Year.

IN ORDER TO THRIVE, SURVIVE

Conyers Riverside Ford exists as more than a testament to longevity. Conyers, who became sole owner of the dealership in 1979, has weathered the ups and downs of the auto industry by cultivating customer loyalty, aggressively marketing additional services and remaining committed to the community served by his dealership. Today, the dealership employs 91 people. Sales have increased from less than $10 million in its first year to $36.1 million in 1994. Revenues for last year alone jumped by 20%.

None of this would have happened if Conyers had assumed that establishing black dealerships in black neighborhoods would be as easy as Ford seemed to believe. Conyers imagines some Ford executive, back in 1969, saying, "I'll put a black dealer there, and they'll sell cars like hotcakes."

"Manufacturers really had a sense that blacks could go into their own neighborhood and sell and survive better than whites can," Conyers recalls. But, he adds, for many black auto dealers it was "a disastrous and totally unrealistic presumption."

Bernard "Rusty" Restuccia, who recently retired after 13 years as head of Ford's minority dealer development program, agrees with Conyers. Ford, although devoted to minority dealers, initially took a simplistic approach, he says. Conyers endured by knowing his market, being a hands-on manager and changing with the times, Restuccia believes.

And change, he has. By 1984, the neighborhood around Conyers Ford had deteriorated considerably. He moved the business to a site on the edge of downtown Detroit near the Detroit River, and added 'Riverside' to the Conyers Ford name. The new location was loaded with opportunity, Conyers says, but it was new and unfamiliar territory.

At the old location, on Detroit's east side, the clientele had been almost exclusively black. They patronized Conyers because they knew his family, lifelong residents of the neighborhood. His brother had been the area's congressman since 1965.

Today, Conyers Riverside Ford is a stone's throw from many large downtown office buildings. The business is located on Jefferson Avenue, a main thoroughfare between the tony Grosse Pointe suburbs and downtown. But Conyers initially had trouble attracting business from the largely white office workers and commuters. "You would be surprised at how many people came in, looked around and left," he says.