40 years in Warroad: Rey Johnson looks back on his business career here

In the summer of 1995, I worked a three month internship at The Warroad Pioneer, which I'm sorry to say has since ceased operation. This was the first professional newspaper that I worked for in my career, and it turned out to be a wonderful experience. I had only worked at Bemidji State University's newspaper for about a year and half before landing the internship. At The Pioneer I gained experience in sports, feature, beat and government reporting. I designed pages, took and developed photographs and was responsible for community relations. The best part is that I remain friends with the owners nearly 30 years later.

June 6, 1995

By Devlyn Brooks

Johnson Chevrolet-Buick-Pontiac Inc. celebrated its 40th anniversary last week, and with it, its owner Rey Johnson celebrated more than 40 years in Warroad.

However, before Johnson ever opened up a business in Warroad, he had owned a prosperous Ford car dealership in Karlstad, Minnesota.

He said that a Warroad banker talked him into relocating to Warroad.

Johnson bought out the Chevy dealership in town, which was owned by Joe Wammer at that time. "I had never even mentioned that I was ready to buy," Johnson said.

He kept the Chevy dealership and left behind the Ford dealership that he had owned. He said that one of the reasons he switched to Chevys was because Wammer had been really popular, and he wanted to follow in his footsteps.

"It was easy to switch over," Johnson said, "because that happened to be the year that Chevy started making V-8s." Johnson had sold V-8s as a Ford dealer.

He said that he has seen Warroad go through a lot of changes.

When he arrived in Warroad, Johnson said the town relied on a lot more logging and the harvesting of wood pulp. "Warroad was just waking up from a logging town mentality," he said.

The town's population was about 600-700, and "the homes were more like temporary homes," Johnson said.

"The roads were really washboardy and corrugated," Johnson said about Warroad.

"Every small town used to look like a small forest with the light and telephone poles that used to be all around," he said. "I used to look out the window and see half a dozen lines and poles."

He has seen a lot of changes no only in Warroad, but in the auto industry, as well.

One change is prices. Johnson said that his garage recently took in a Buick LeSabre from about 1955, and the price tag was still in the glove compartment. It read about $3,000.

Another change, he said, is how the media treats recall campaigns. "We've had recalls ever since I've started dealing," he said. "Now, the media makes such a big deal about them."

Johnson said that the recall campaigns never even used to be publicized. The manufacturer would call the dealers, and the dealers would call the specific owners of the car being recalled. they would fix whatever was necessary and nothing was said.

"The media sort of gives the image that cars aren't as safe today," he said. "They probably are safer."

He said that he also has seen the transformation of the pickup. He said that pickups used to be used around the farm and to haul the cream cans to town. "Now, people go to the country club in them," he said.

One major difference in the selling of automobiles is that the dealers used to make house calls. "I think that was the fun part of selling cars. It was enjoyable."

He said that the dealers would go out into the country and stake out a piece of land. Then they would go "farm to farm," trying to sell cars.

"There is hardly any soliciting now," Johnson said. "It used to be a family affair when buying a car. Not anymore."

Johnson was born in Canada, but was raised in Kennedy, Minnesota. "I held a dual citizenship unit the first time I voted," he said. "I think that was when Hoover ran for office."

His first job was n a grain elevator, and later he actually managed a grain elevator for nine years. These were the only two other jobs he's really ever had besides his car dealerships.

He said that times haven't always been easy. He said he remembers once when he was growing up in Kennedy, he asked his dad for a dollar to buy another kid a birthday present. He said his dad said, "Sure," and tossed his wallet up on the table. When Johnson opened the wallet up, thee was only one dollar left. "I didn't take it," he said, with a smile.

Another time when his car dealership was located on the corner of East Lake Street and Highway 11, a building adjacent to his exploded. The explosion took his building and even some of his cars with it. He said that they operated business out of the building the Amoco station is in now until their current building was built.

Through all the tough times, he said he has received "steadfast support" from his wife, Edythe.

they have only one son, Dick, who took over as president of the corporation when it incorporated in 1966.

Nowadays, he said he only sells a few cars a year to old friends, and the rest of the time, "I mostly just take up space." He also "spends a little time on the golf course," he said with a grin.

As for now, Rey can still be found at the dealership most of the time, ready to tell a story to anybody about the old days of automobiles.