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David Odom has been connected with the automobile business his entire life.
“My father worked with Ford Motors and was a major metro market manager based out of Detroit,” he recalled. “Later, he relocated to North Carolina and operated Regal Chevrolet in Charlotte.”
Upon his graduation from college, David’s father encouraged him to come to work in the auto sales industry, and arranged with a fellow dealer in Denver, Colorado to train him.
“Four days after graduation, I was in Denver,” recalled Odom, who credited his mentor there with teaching him the foundational skills of managing a dealership.
“His name was Mike Flannery,” Odom said, “and I spent a year with him learning the trade. By 1982, I was back in North Carolina, working with my dad at the Charlotte location.”
For Odom, the road to Albemarle may have begun in Denver, but there have been a few other stops along the way, including stints with Charlotte dealerships Larry Jay Chevrolet and Arnold Palmer Cadillac after having left the Regal dealership.
“I was looking for a fresh start,” Odom said, “and I prayed for guidance. I was ready to relocate the family to Idaho and work with a dealership there when I got a call from a friend of my dad. He told me about a dealership in Troy that I needed to check out.”
Although not having ruled out the possibility of relocating to Idaho, Odom decided to follow his friend’s advice and headed eastward on N.C. Highway 24-27 toward Montgomery County.
“I passed through the country and saw farms and forests, and I thought, ‘This is probably what Idaho looks like.’ Then I crossed Lake Tillery and headed into the Uwharries, and I thought, ‘Wow…I bet Idaho looks a lot like this.’ ”
By the time he arrived in Troy, Odom was sold on the location. And, after investigating the business potential, he liked what he found, bought the dealership, and Friendly Chevrolet was born.
The dealership saw success in Troy until economic difficulties nationwide in 2008 started a series of events that led Odom to relocate the business to Albemarle in 2012.
“General Motors declared bankruptcy in 2008,” he recalled. “That led the company to closely examine all dealerships, and quite a few of the underperforming ones were closed down,” he said, adding that Friendly survived the cuts.
“However, GM wanted the remaining dealerships to renovate their buildings. We didn’t own the building in Troy, so we were able to delay the renovations for a few years.”
Meanwhile, on the west side of the Pee Dee, longtime Albemarle dealership Confederate Motors had sold out to Kentuckian Eric McCauley in 2007 and became McCauley Chevrolet. The McCauleys operated on the U.S. Highway 52 North site until 2011.
“After McCauley closed down, we bought this building and moved our operations to Albemarle,” Odom said, adding that recent studies have indicated that continued growth of the Charlotte metro area indicates a 250% growth in market potential for Friendly Chevrolet over the next few years.
With such an increase projected, Odom is optimistic about the future.
“Success in this line of work requires drive, organization and a good attitude,” he reflected, before adding, “I’ve got two of the three, but organization is not my strong suit.”
So how does Odom overcome his self-acknowledged shortage in the organization department?
“I surround myself with highly organized people,” he said, citing two members of his staff as examples: Office Manager Melissa Pendzinski (“she keeps the place running”), and Finance Manager (and daughter) Ashley Birmingham (“she’s super organized just like her mom,”) Odom added.
Also noted were Sales Manager Nathan Clements and Sales Associate Heath McDonald, in addition to a number of others who have been with the company “20-plus years.”
“We have almost no turnover,” said Odom. “We do our best to make this a great place to work. When you nurture people in their jobs, they get better.”
Friendly Chevrolet is at 2307 U.S. Highway 52 North, Albemarle. Visit https://www.friendlychevroletalbemarle.com or call 704-550-5814.
Sales hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.