Rowell’s Garage offers top-quality vehicles and outstanding service
Staff Report
DOVER-FOXCROFT — For more than 66 years, Rowell’s Garage in Dover-Foxcroft has provided the region with quality vehicles along with trustworthy and excellent customer service. The staff, which includes the sales and service departments along with the business providing school bus transportation for area schools, all lives in the region and many of them grew up in the area.
Karen Pomeroy is the third-generation owner of Rowell’s Garage. Her grandfather Amos B. Rowell and grandmother Gladys E. Rowell started the business on June 1, 1946. He bought the old American House Hotel in Merrick Square and then replaced it with a new 11,000 square-foot building for the Pontiac-GMC franchise. The Chief Pontiac emblem is still visible on the side of the building.
Observer photo/Mike Lange
BEST INVENTORY AND BEST PRICES — From compacts to luxury sedans and SUVs, Rowell’s Garage has the best inventory in the region and the most competitive prices.
In the early 1950s, Amos B. Rowell fashioned some seats inside a yellow panel van and started the school bus fleet, a service that continues today for both Regional School Unit 68 and Foxcroft Academy students.
Pomeroy’s father, Gene Gammon, joined the business in 1953 as the sales and service department manager. Her mother joined him in 1963 as the bookkeeper and they purchased the business in 1971. They both retired in 1995 after 42 years in the business, selling it to Karen and her husband Bob.
“It is important to continue to employ people within Piscataquis County and to provide excellent customer service for the people of this region,” Pomeroy said. “We are all local and proud of it.”
“We are a local company, in business since 1946 and we try to do all the business locally we can,” General Manager Scott Moulton said.
Observer photo/Mike Lange
SALES TEAM — The newest members of the Rowell’s Garage sales team are, left, Garth Fugel of Corinth and Ora “Sonny” Spratt of Dexter.
As the largest automobile dealership in Piscataquis County, Rowell’s “specializes in late model, pre-owned low mileage vehicles,” Sales Manager Randy Herring said about the inventory of a pair of lots on either side of East Main Street with a variety of cars, SUVs and trucks for sale. He added that the sales staff can find nearly anything that customers are looking for.
“We have a wide selection of inventory, not just domestics but imports as well,” Herring said, saying Rowell’s has a number of different lending options to help customers finance. “We emphasize customer service, one-on-one interaction with the customer,” Herring said. “We develop relationships with sales and service.”
“Our reconditioning department takes care of preparing all our vehicles for sale, making sure they are clean, serviced and dependable,” Herring said. He said Mike Daggett handles the vehicle reconditioning and he has been doing so since 1987.
Herring has been in the automobile sales industry for a decade and a half and said, “It is nice to come back home where you are no longer a number either as an employee or a customer.” He grew up in Dover-Foxcroft, graduating from Foxcroft Academy in 1991, and now is back working in his hometown.
Joining Herring in the sales department are Garth Fugel and Ora “Sonny” Spratt. Fugel graduated from Bangor High School in 1987, attended the University of Maine and lives in Corinth. He has been in sales for 20 years and joined the Rowell’s team one year ago. Fugel has two children — Faith and Katie — and is engaged to Teresa Page.
Observer photo/Mike Lange
CUSTOMER COMFORT — The customer lounge at Rowell’s Garage has a comfortable sofa and chair, plenty of reading material, TV and Wi-Fi.
Pratt, who is from Dexter, is the newest member of the Rowell’s sales team, but he’s no stranger to the business. He has spent 19 years in the automotive field and has worked at Chevy, Ford, Dodge, Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Hyundai franchises.
Officer Manager Gloria Perry is a resident of Dover-Foxcroft, has been at Rowell’s for 19 years and has been working in the automobile industry for more than 30 years.
Marguerite Weymouth began working at Rowell’s earlier this year. She grew up in Dover-Foxcroft, graduated from Foxcroft Academy, relocated and then moved back to the area.
“I have been here for four years and in the car business 16 years prior to that,” Moulton said, with 13 of the 16 years in sales management “I have 19 years in sales, sales management, finance and insurance.”
Moulton lives in Abbot with his wife Trisha and their two sons, and graduated from PCHS in 1981 and the Eastern Maine Vocational Technical Institute in Bangor in 1983.
The staff of the Rowell’s service department is dedicated to solving customers’ vehicle problems by providing everything from four-wheel alignments and engine work to brake and exhaust service and tires and accessories for most makes and models. They also perform inspections for automobiles, motorcycles, commercial vehicles, buses and trailers and offer batteries and air conditioning service.
Rowell’s carries genuine AC Delco parts, as well as parts from local sources, which Moulton said enables the service staff “access to all the latest training and tools available.”
“From state inspections to tire repairs to changing engines and transmissions they pretty much do it all,” Moulton said. “The technicians have on-going training through AC Delco and (Automotive Service Excellence) training.”
The business has a full line of Wynn’s products for professional quality engine, transmission, brake system, power steering system and fuel system flushes.
Rowell’s sells and applies Fluid Film protectants, which are solvent-free and lanolin-based to prevent rust and corrosion for the long-term protection of metal vehicle parts.
Observer photo/Mike Lange
REMODELED OFFICE — The sales office and floor at Rowell’s Garage has been recently remodeled, using local contractors, parts and materials.
The parts department has a large inventory of accessories for every need, from air filters to bed liners. Appointments can be scheduled through a service request on the business website in which date and times can be requested and information on the problem and types of service sought can be provided before the vehicle pulls into the garage.
While customers wait, they can relax in a comfortable waiting area equipped with both wireless Internet and satellite television.
Another service option is with snowplows, as Rowell’s Garage is the only local authorized Boss Plow dealer, offering sales, service, parts and professional installation, as well as Boss tailgate sanders. Installation and repairs on Fisher Plows are also offered.
The service staff at Rowell’s has over 100 combined years’ experience in the industry. Service Manager Tim Packard, a graduate of PCHS who lives in Abbot, has been with Rowell’s for three years and has over 19 years’ experience in the auto service business. Parts Manager Charlie “Bill” Brown has been with Rowell’s a year, grew up in Abbot, attended Piscataquis Community High School, served six years in the Air Force and has 26 years’ experience in automotive service
Service technician Steve Chambers, a Dover-Foxcroft native, has been with Rowell’s for 15 years and in the industry for over two and half decades specializing in general service and snow plow installation.
Other Rowell’s service technicians are Onie Lougee of Harmony, Dan Withers of Greenville and Clifford Pratt of Brownville Junction.
Tal Lyford of Dover-Foxcroft, a 1985 graduate of Foxcroft Academy, is Rowell’s transportation specialist and he has been with the business for eight years.
For over 60 years Rowell’s has been providing school bus service for the region and the team of drivers has approximately 135 combined years of experience transporting the area’s children to and from school daily as well as to extracurricular and summer activities and other events including weddings. “We have very dedicated professional drivers,” Moulton said.
“I’m very pleased to be working with some of the best bus drivers, they are really committed to the kids,” Transportation Director Jenny Chase said. Chase, who grew up in Dover-Foxcroft and attended local schools, has been with Rowell’s for 26 years. She began as a driver and for the past 16 years has been the transportation director.
Rowell’s school bus drivers are Randy Bent, Mary Bromiley, Pat Brown, Ed Conroy, Dan Cumming, Lynda Landry, Tal Lyford, Lester Narowski, Ron Richardson, Galen Shannon, Randy Bent, Chris Reardon and Crystal Shorey.
“Anything that is community-minded we do,” Moulton said about Rowell’s efforts to be active and give back to the region. The business supports area events, such as lending use of cars for parades and providing bus transportation for the fireworks over Sebec Lake during the annual Dover-Foxcroft Shiretown Homecoming, schools, the Center Theatre, Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce and more. “We try to be very good corporate citizens,” Moulton said.
Rowell’s Garage is at 191 East Main Street (Route 15) in Dover-Foxcroft, near the intersection with Essex Street.
Sales hours are Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to noon. Service hours are Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
They can be reached at 564-3434 or 1-800-564-1264, online at www.rowellsgarage.com or find them on Facebook.