One family business to another: Akron dealership Dave Towell Cadillac bought by VanDeveres

The VanDevere and Towell families signed a deal tlweek for the VanDeveres to purchase the Dave Towell Cadillac at 111 W. Market St. in Akron, converting the business to VanDevere Cadillac.

“The timing was right,” said Tom Towell, who owned Dave Towell Cadillac with his brother, Tim.

Tom Towell said they chose the VanDeveres to purchase the business “because they're a family-owned-and-operated dealership like our dealership.”

Tom added the Towell family appreciates that the VanDeveres will continue operating the business at its existing location. The VanDeveres already have an area presence with Buick and Kia dealerships less than a half a mile to the northwest on West Market Street.

“We wanted to keep that same kind of family [ownership] versus the big, mega, corporate group,” said Tom Towell, who entered the business with his brother in 2002. They took over the business as dealers from their father, the late Dave Towell, in 2005.

The deal includes a $3.12 million transfer of five parcels, according to Summit County Fiscal Office records. The VanDeveres and Towells declined to share monetary terms of the deal with the Beacon Journal.

What’s on the horizon for VanDevere Cadillac?

Mike VanDevere, co-owner of VanDevere Auto, said the Cadillac store — VanDevere’s first store dedicated to the sale of new and used Cadillacs — has about 25 employees staying on from the transition.

“There are a few that are leaving and going elsewhere, but we gave everybody the opportunity to join us, and most of them will,” Mike VanDevere said.

Jerry VanDevere, co-owner of the auto group and Mike’s brother, said when the employees “like where they work, our customers are happy — they have a good experience.”

Brian VanDevere, VanDevere Auto co-owner and now general manager of VanDevere Cadillac (and Mike’s son), said the West Market Street store is the only new Cadillac dealership in Summit and Stark counties.

Brian VanDevere added that the dealership will have all of the new Cadillac makes, including the Lyriq, an electric SUV option, and the larger electric vehicle (EV) Escalade IQ that will be in production later this year.

“We’re embracing the manufacturer’s vision with EVs, and as long as that's what they're pushing, we're here to participate in it,” Brian VanDevere said. “I think there’s a market for it."

The lot directly across North Bates Street where some cars are on display is also now under VanDevere Auto family ownership, Mike VanDevere said.

While Tim and Tom Towell declined to share their future plans, the VanDeveres said they are excited to continue the growth of their business with fourth-generation members such as Brian filling key roles. In addition to the three West Market Street dealerships, the VanDevere family business, founded in 1946, runs a Chevrolet dealership on Vernon Odom Boulevard and the VanDevere Auto Outlet used car dealership on South Arlington Road in Green.

Altogether, they have about 350 employees, Jerry VanDevere said.

Mike VanDevere said a lot of people who live on Akron’s west side commute to and from downtown, which still makes 111 W. Market St. a prime location for a Cadillac dealership.

“And it has good drive-by traffic,” he said. “I also think that with the internet in place and marketing, people come to you if you have a good reputation. So, our goal is to grow it.”

A history of Dave Towell Cadillac

In 1912, Tim and Tom’s great great uncle, T.H. Towell, started a Cadillac “distributorship” in Cleveland that served that city, Akron and Canton, Tom said. Tim described the distributorship as a link between the manufacturer and the retail stores.

In 1934, Tom and Tim’s grandfather, Dave Towell, started operating an Akron Cadillac distributorship under the name Towell Cadillac.

During the Towells’ early days operating in Akron, the cars were sold across West Market Street from the dealership’s current location. That building, then and now, comes right up to the sidewalk.

“There was no frontage for the display of used cars, and part of the reason for that is that really wasn't part of the business model back in the '20s, '30s, '40s and this kind of thing,” Tim said. “You just sold new cars, basically.”

Then, in the 1950s, Dave’s team constructed the 111 W. Market St. building for a service garage and a used car lot, Tim Towell said.

On South Bates Street, Cadillac Hill has a steep, 28% grade . It was so named because of the Towells’ Cadillac business, Tim Towell said.

“That hill was used to show the power of the V-12 engine that only Cadillac had,” Tim Towell said. “And the hill's so steep, they would show customers that this is why you buy a Cadillac, is it's capable of going up this hill. And you can imagine the cars were nowhere near as powerful as they are today. So, it was kind of astonishing that a car could climb that hill easily.”

Tim and Tom Towell's father took over the business in 1960 and renamed it Dave Towell Cadillac that year, Tom said.

Addressing West Market Street’s longtime association with Cadillacs, Tim Towell said: “As the story goes, you would have Goodyear executives coming on their lunch hour and buying a Cadillac from us at that time.”

The same apparently went for not only executives, but also middle management at Goodyear, Firestone and other rubber businesses, said Tim Towell, acknowledging that the industry had high-paying jobs that allowed multiple managers to be able to afford Cadillacs.

“They were close to us, and we were close to them,” Tim Towell said of the customers.

In the late 1970s and 1980s, when Tom and Tim’s father Dave Towell ran the dealership , he had relocated the dealership to an Exchange Street site that is now part of the University of Akron campus.

Dave Towell moved the business back to 111 W. Market St. In the late 1980s, he closed the by-then sales and service operation across West Market Street.

Tim said the Towells would not have been so successful if not for their customers and employees.

“We're happy with our decision [to sell], but we just want to thank the people that got us to where we are — our customers and our employees,” Tim said.

Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @pwilliamsOH.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: One family business to another: Akron dealership Dave Towell Cadillac bought by VanDeveres