Dealership History

The name Myers first became associated with automotive retailing and service in Ottawa in 1942. At the time Gordon Myers established Myers Motors as the successor dealership to Pinks Limited which was the original General Motors Dealership in Ottawa. Since that time Myers has had four owners. Bob Moore followed Gordon Myers in 1954 and Neil McDonald took over from Bob in 1959. Hank Mews, the current owner, replaced Neil in 1975.

In the beginning, Myers was located on Slater Street in downtown Ottawa. In 1959 a move was made to what was then considered to be suburban Ottawa, on Elgin Street near to where the Queensway was soon to be built. Today Ottawa’s main Police Station is situated on that property. In November 1971 Myers moved to its present location on Baseline at Merivale. Back then we had just over four acres and our building was approximately 35,000 square feet. All departments were housed under one roof. Between 1984 and 1986 a major expansion program was undertaken. Four acres of land were purchased on Sunderland Street just off Merivale, three miles south of Baseline, and a modern 32 bay, 17,000 square foot Body and Paint Center was built. Once the new Body and Paint Center was built, our main building was altered to provide 49 mechanical service bays. Then a 17,000 square foot addition was constructed that contains on the main floor our customer service and reception drive and on the second floor a customer lounge and eating facilities for our customers and staff, as well as all of our administration offices. Over the years we were able to purchase additional property to the west of our main building which enabled us to erect a building to house our Used Car Department. In total, today we have approximately 70,000 square feet under roof and over 10 acres of property.

Myers has earned an enviable reputation for volume sales and very high levels of customer satisfaction. We are proud to be recognized as one of Canada’s outstanding General Motors Dealerships. Our people have made this possible through their understanding of and devotion to providing value-added service to our customers.

Our President, Hank Mews, joined Myers in February, 1971, as General Manager. Hank was born and grew up in St. John’s Newfoundland and after graduating from high school, his first job was as a salesperson with a Ford dealership in St. John’s. From there, being uncertain about what career path to follow, Hank moved to Mainland Canada and over the next few years he tried his hand as a commercial pilot, as a life insurance salesperson and finally in a Toronto Advertising Agency.

In early 1962, Hank joined General Motors and for the next five years worked in Toronto and the Maritimes as a District Sales Manager, before returning to the Ford Dealership in St. John’s as General Manager in 1967.
In 1969, Hank had the opportunity to become the owner of that dealership but opted to return to Toronto and search for a dealership elsewhere in Canada hoping to become a General Motors Dealer. After a short stint as General Sales Manager of a Chevrolet Dealership in Toronto, the Ford Motor Company convinced Hank to join them to manage Ford owned dealerships that had a history of failure. During the next two years he operated Ford Dealerships in Toronto, Montreal and Moncton. Finally in December 1970, General Motors initiated discussion between Hank and Neil McDonald which resulted in Hank joining Myers in February 1971 as General Manager with the intention of purchasing the company. This was accomplished in July 1975.

During the early years at Baseline and Merivale it was necessary to increase the ownership base by aggressively working to sell more vehicles. While this of course will always be important, by the mid 1970’s the company recognized that long term success would be dependent on providing our customer with good service. As a result, from that time forward we have concentrated much of our resources, both financial and human, to building a reputation within the company of being competent, caring and trustworthy. This philosophy has served Myers well. Our Service, Parts and Body and Paint departments have flourished, we have an ever growing base of repeat customers and are recognized by General Motors as being one of Canada’s most outstanding Dealerships.

Ours is a very competitive industry. Since 1971 the number of dealerships in the market place has more than doubled. The public have more to choose from and are rightfully asking for full value in return for their business. We must always remember that service is our product. By making it truly a pleasure to do business with Myers, we can be confident that Myers will continue to be successful throughout the years ahead.