Area residents may have noticed new temporary signage on both the building and vehicles at the former Arnie's Ford dealership at the corner of Third and Logan Streets in Wayne.
Ryan Davis recently purchased the dealership from Bill Reeg. The Reeg family has owned the business since 1978. Joining Ryan at the dealership is Andrew Griffith, the general manager and Davis’ business partner.
Davis, who grew up in the Cedar Falls, Iowa area, said he has been in the car business since he was 20 years old.
He moved to the Kearney, Nebraska area in 2006 and ran the Midway dealerships there for approximately nine years.
"I also worked as a dealership consultant and got connected with Wayne as I was recruiting finance managers from Wayne State and other colleges," Davis said.
Ryan and Andrew have been working together since 2008 and recently moved their families to Wayne from Columbus, where the two worked together at Ernst Toyota and Ernst Chevrolet Buick GMC since 2018.
Davis began looking for his own store in 2023.
"When I looked at Wayne, I saw that it is a progressive, supportive community, one my family would love to be a part of. We also had the opportunity to keep the Ford store in Wayne," Davis said.
Davis and his wife, Traci, have two daughters - Addison, who is a freshman in college and Norah, who is a sophomore at Wayne High School.
Griffith and his wife, Melissa, have a five year old son, Dash.
Davis Ford has a total of 13 employees. This includes three new technicians.
Upgrades have been made to the service area and the technicians are able to service all makes of vehicles.
"We have an amazing staff and have had five new families move into the Wayne community since we took ownership of the store," Davis said.
"Our goal is to take care of our employees, our customers and the community. We are here and we want to be a part of the community in any way we can," Davis said.
Davis Ford is open from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and the sales department is available from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
To contact the dealership, call 402-375-3780.
