Jack Quirk Sr. in the mid-1970s
Jack Quirk Sr. in the mid-1970s
Quirk of Art
Maine car magnate Jack Quirk Sr. had an uncle and father in the business, so his auto dealership success could be called fate. But this self-proclaimed “lucky Irishman” blazed through obstacles and kept his principles, creating a legacy many would consider a work of art.
Just managing seven sons is frightening for many of us to contemplate. Having five of them run your business takes either a saint or a genius.
Jack Quirk Sr. would say he’s neither, but those who saw him build his company from three people selling Subarus to 350 people in 15 franchises across Maine might vote for “genius.”
Quirk has 10 children in all, part of a blended family he and his wife, Bunny, clearly cherish. “And, yes, I can name them all, and the 14 grandchildren, too,” he says.
Though trained as an accountant, Quirk approaches business with a creativity you won’t find in many number crunchers. Over his years steering Quirk Auto dealerships, he came up with innovative marketing ideas like Canadian Appreciation Days, mastered “management by walking around” decades before Tom Peters appeared on the scene, and practiced win-win negotiation long before books like Getting to Yes.
You were born in Bangor in 1931. What was your youth like?
I was a very happy young fellow growing up, enjoyed my life at that time, and had a lot of friends. We even started a junior Marine Corps. We were young, probably 14 or 15, and we used to march in the parades.
Did you have any heroes?
I had many heroes, but one would be General Robin Olds. He was my CO when I was in the Air Force. He was a colonel at the time. He used to take me up in his fighter jets on Sundays and try to convince me to go to the Air Force Academy and learn to be a pilot. I didn’t, but I thought a lot of him. He was probably one of the top fighter aces in the country, was on the cover of Life magazine, and got married to a movie star. He was one of the top people in my life that I was really impressed with.
You met him when you were called up to serve in the Air National Guard, during the Korean War, correct?
I got called up while I was at Husson. I had started at Maine Maritime Academy and I left to go to Husson to study business and accounting. There were a bunch of us in the Air Guard who got called up. We were activated in 1950 and stationed in different places—in Manchester, New Hampshire, initially, then Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Did you fly?
No, I worked in accounting, in the Air Force payroll office.
After the war, you eventually went to work for your uncle, Owen Darling, managing his car dealership. What did you learn from him?
I had a lot of respect for Owen Darling. Still do. One of the things he taught me was to take care of your employees, because they’re your most valuable asset.
After 20 years you left Darlings with your uncle’s blessing and opened your own Subaru franchise, with a business partner named Ron Verow. How did you finance
the business?
Ron mortgaged his house and I borrowed the money from the bank, with the help of so many friends—attorneys and accountants—people who believed in me.”
You also asked your father, Johnny Quirk, to move his business into your building in Bangor. Why?
My father was well-known all over New England as a front end specialist. Now it’s adjustments, but back then it was an art. Ron and I invited my father to come out with his front end business because we thought it would serve us well, the name recognition. My father was my other mentor. He taught me to be honest and take care of your customers. I tried to employ that method with all of our dealerships and it worked very well.
Over the years, your company—now your sons’ company—grew to 15 franchises statewide, with 350 employees. Looking back, what were some of the roughest times along the way?
When we opened our dealership in ’73, out on Griffin Road by Bull’s-Eye Bridge, getting the zoning board to allow us to build a building there was difficult.
But probably the most difficult thing was, when we first opened we couldn’t get cars! It was hard to get inventory. I had to go down to Boston—in fact, I had my grand opening down at the distributor’s office in Boston. I took a bottle of champagne and some balloons and waited an hour and a half to see him, and I went in and plunked the champagne on his desk and said, “We don’t have any cars, so we thought we’d have our grand opening right here.” Well, he never forgot that. He ended up becoming an awfully good friend of mine.
Did you finally get some cars?
Right after that, we started getting some inventory, and we were buying them from other dealers as well—they weren’t that popular back then when we first bought the franchise. Next thing you know, the DOT closed the Bull’s-Eye Bridge for repairs! So we put a sign across the bridge. It said, “If you don’t want to swim across, we’ll pay you to drive around”—and they put a picture of it on the front page of the business section of the Bangor Daily News. Unbelievable! What an ad.
Those were probably the two most trying times getting the business started. But in two years, we were the largest Subaru dealer in the state. In three years, we were, on and off, number one in New England. In Bangor, we were selling more Subarus than they were selling Ford or Chevy cars.
That’s amazing. Why did people flock to the Subaru??
Many reasons. Gas was in shortage back then, number one. And our cars were inexpensive. The first couple years we had to teach people to drive because all we had were standard transmission cars. Then we had automatic, and then all-wheel drive. That made it very popular in this area, as well as the Northeast and the Northwest, where the bulk of Subarus are sold.
Which role do you identify with the most: salesman, manager, or entrepreneur?
I really don’t identify with any of ’em.
What do you call yourself?
Lucky Irishman. I just enjoyed working with our employees. I knew most of our employees by their first name and last name and some of their wives. Employees were very important to me and still are—that’s why I came in a lot to say hello.
Customers are very important to me, too—I still meet customers I’ve worked with for 50, 60 years. We probably have 100,000 customers out there who have bought cars from us over the last 30-something years.
You were on the board of directors of Subaru New England distributors for many years, and on the national board as well. Besides industry trade groups, how did you continue to grow professionally? Any business gurus you followed?
I followed the directions and ethics of Ernie Bock in Boston. He was a legend in building empires. He taught us how to be a strong Subaru dealer. He was one of few distributors back then who insisted that all dealers be single point [selling just one brand].
How has the dealership business changed in the last 20 years?
I would say, positively, it’s more professional; negatively, more costly, and more rules and regulations.
What sorts of things do people in your business have to deal with that most of us wouldn’t realize?
I don’t think most people realize with car dealers how many employees they need, and how much training they need, to sell one car or to service one car. It’s like being in the Air Force—I think there are 70 people on the ground for every pilot. When selling a car or servicing a car, we have four or five others behind them.
Most automobile dealers in Maine furnish health insurance for their employees, and pay for it. I think this new healthcare law is going to affect the cost tremendously—for the people who pay for it, not for the people who don’t. A lot of them are going to get some benefit from it—but for the people who pay for it, the cost is going to go up.
Is there anything about Maine that makes running a business here easier?
Probably the loyalty and support of our customers has made it easier than it probably could be in other states.
After you left your uncle’s employ, your family and his became competitors. Does that cause any problems in the family?
The Darlings and the Quirks are very good friends. We spend a lot of time in Florida together with John Darling; I don’t see him as much in the summer; he spends a lot of time in the southern part of the state.
Before retiring and since, you served on many boards. Is it hard for a doer like you to slow down to a committee’s pace?
I never belonged to an organization or committee that I didn’t have something to add to. If I didn’t, then I wouldn’t stay there. I represented the Maine dealers at a national level and shared on a state level. I enjoyed it and looked forward to it. I did that for nine years. I retired
last year.
What charitable projects have been most satisfying?
Oh boy, there are so many of them. The company has supported many organizations, as well as Bunny and I. Christopher Reeve’s Foundation is one my wife’s big charities. Churches and schools, Husson, the University of Maine, those are some of the places we personally give to.
Some of the retired businesspeople we’ve talked to feel driven out of the state because of Maine’s high personal income tax. Do you share that sentiment?
I share the sentiment, but I would never leave the state of Maine, where we have survived and continue to be in the retail business. But the issue is huge.
In speaking to the people reading this still active in business, what habits did you practice that contributed to your success?
I lay my success to taking care of your employees, who will take care of your customers. Be selective in choosing your employees and treat them well, along with their families, and then trust your employees to treat your customers the same way.
Any new habits since retiring?
My wife and I have been very relaxed in the last few years. One lesson I’ve learned in the last five years is not to have stress, and not to worry about anything you don’t have control over. We’ve done a good job at keeping ourselves happy, and our friends and relatives happy.
Bunny and I go to Florida every year for four months. We’ve been very fortunate to do that. We enjoy going south. And we enjoy coming home.
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