1920 to
1950
In 1920, the founder of our Company,
Walter Hoselton,
opened a service garage in East Penfield, New York. Walter had worked
for eleven years as the service foreman of one of the largest auto
dealers in Monroe County at the time and had taught one of the first
adult evening courses in auto mechanics in 1914. A
few years later, he moved to a larger service garage at 295 Plymouth
Avenue in Rochester, with more opportunity to service all makes and sell
Chevrolets.
In
1927, he was offered a Chevrolet franchise for the East Rochester area
and moved into temporary quarters while a new dealership building was
under construction at 161 East Commercial Street in East Rochester.
Business
there weathered the depression with many sacrifices on the part of
Walter Hoselton, and in 1934 he bought a small additional building half
a block away.
Charles Hoselton, Walter's son, started full-time
in the Service Department in 1935. From
1942 thru 1945, car production was completely shut down, driving our
service facilities to help keep transportation rolling. More land was
acquired and in 1948, an adjoining service and parts building was
constructed that doubled the dealership's size.
1950 to
1970
Throughout
the 1950's Hoselton continued to grow and prosper after more land was
acquired and a service and parts building was constructed. In 1960,
Hoselton Chevrolet was offered a metropolitan Chevrolet franchise, and
in 1961 the purchase of fifteen acres of land at our current location
on the corner of Marsh and Fairport Roads was initiated. Hoselton Realty
Company, Inc. was founded in 1962 to administer the land and building
aspects of our Organization.
Shortly
thereafter, David
Hoselton became the third generation in the family to
join the business. He began as a service writer in the fall of 1964,
right around the time Hoselton moved into our new facilities at 909
Fairport Road in East Rochester, New York.
Hoselton
Leasing Company, Inc. was formed in the fall of 1964 with the first
automobiles placed into lease service early in 1965. Four years later,
7,000 square feet of parts storage were added to the complex.
1970 to
1990
In response to the increased consumer
demands for more economical transportation, we added the Toyota
franchise in May 1970. Toyota's
were sold out of the Hoselton Chevrolet building until a modern sales
and service facility was completed and occupied by Hoselton Toyota Inc.
in July 1971. One of the features of the new facility was Western New
York's first in-dealership Diagnostic Dynamometer installation.
In
August 1973, Hoselton Leasing was expanded through acquisition of a
full-time lease manager and formation of an exclusive Hoselton Leasing
service department. In
March
of 1974, the Hoselton Foundation was created to administer our
response as a Christian business to the community. Contributions to
Monroe County organizations have been made each year since, on behalf of
our dealership and our employees.
Many
changes took place over the next ten years. A Datsun franchise was
added in September 1975. Upon completion of a new Datsun sales and
service facility, Hoselton Datsun began operations in the spring of
1976 and added AMC/Jeep in 1979.
Continued
sales and service growth led to the first Hoselton Toyota expansion in
the fall of 1980. In 1981, we completed our acquisition of Marsh Road
frontage property and developed the import used car lot and Chevrolet
truck lot. A combined truck/leasing sales and office building was
completed in the fall of 1981 to better serve our customers.
January
1985 was the completion date for a complete renovation and expansion of
the Datsun facility. The building was enlarged to nearly double the
original size to better serve our growing family of Datsun/AMC/Jeep
customers. In June of 1985, Hoselton Datsun's name was changed
to Hoselton Nissan, Inc.
1990's
The
widening of Marsh Road
in 1991 led to development of new traffic entrances for the complex.
This also provided the opportunity to bring our entire selection of
used cars and trucks together into a new Marsh Road used vehicle lot.
During 1996 and 1997, the Hoselton Auto Mall concept coincided with
major renovations to the Toyota
showroom. Hoselton Chevrolet renovated its service customer reception
area in 1996 and began the first stages of a major collision shop
upgrade.
In
September 1997, we were awarded the Chrysler-Plymouth franchises,
leading to an 8,600 square foot facility addition to house Nissan.
Completed in the spring of 1998, Chrysler Plymouth Jeep occupies the
former Nissan Jeep Eagle facility. This addition included a Customer
Service Drive-Thru for both Nissan and Chrysler/Plymouth/Jeep.
2000 to the
present
Hoselton's new collision center office
and drive-in bays were completed in 2001. In late 2002 a major
renovation of the Chrysler/Plymouth/Jeep facility was finalized. This
improvement included remodeling the showroom, conference room,
consolidated office, F&I office, customer lounge and
restrooms.
Our vehicle selection grew yet again in 2004 when we added
Scion to the Toyota facility as our sixth franchise, initiating more
major updates to the Toyota facility.
2008
proved to be a very significant year in Hoselton's history. Early in
the year, Chairman Dave Hoselton retired and his son Drew Hoselton
took the
reins, representing the fourth generation of the family's dedication to
providing automotive customers in the Rochester area with the very best
in sales and service, as well as continuing a long tradition of giving
back to the community.
Also
in 2008, the Chrysler Jeep franchise was sold. But the biggest news of
the year was the start of a major construction project for Hoselton
Toyota. A 16,000 square foot addition to the former Chrysler/Nissan
building was constructed, adding more service bays and customer
drive-in areas. Toyota's
new showroom (formerly the Chrysler/Nissan showroom) was transformed
with new service customer parking, a new customer lounge, and new
corporate accounting, cashier and receptionist areas. New outdoor
lighting, repaving, and new work areas for Internet sales and
F&I
were other components of the project. The end result: a beautiful and
efficient new complex for customers and staff.
Throughout
the decade, technology played an increasingly important role at
Hoselton with computer and networking advancements, an easy to use and
functional website, Internet sales, Facebook account, and vehicle sales
via eBay. Our
success in the past, present, and future will only be the result of
satisfied customers built through fair sales practices and quality
service.