An abandoned hound made what should have been a bad day much better for the owner of a Whiteville car dealership.
“It was a Saturday,” Scott Simons said, “and it was raining. We had no appointments that day. People don’t like to buy cars in the rain. But we were heading in anyway.”
The West Virginia native and some of his sales staff currently live in an Air B&B in the Wilmington area, and were on their way to Simons Chevrolet GMC around 6:30 a.m.
They were heading up U.S. 74 near Lake Waccamaw when a malnourished hound now known as Remy made her way onto the road.
“My top sales officer asked what in the world I was doing,” Simons said. “I told him I didn’t want her to get run over and I was going to get her off the road.”
The men managed to coax Remy into their vehicle – and that’s when the trip got exciting.
“I don’t think she’d ever been in the front of a car,” Simon said. “She was panicking.”
The dog got caught in the open window while they were driving, and Simons finally managed to get her somewhat calmed down.
“I wasn’t sure what we were going to do with her,” he said, “but I wasn’t going to let her get it or just starve to death.”
Simons and his family have dogs, but he said he had no experience with hounds. Remy quickly changed that.
She was scared and hungry but still full of energy, as well as in need of a bath.
“We put her in the service bay, since that was open and had plenty of room,” he said. “She was just pacing constantly, and trying to get out. It was terrible.”
He finally brought the dog to his office facing the showroom – and both the staff and customers began noticing the forlorn dog pacing back and forth.
“The atmosphere changed,” he said. “She calmed down. People were drawn to see her.
“That ended up being our biggest sales day up to that point.”
Remy stayed with one of his staff for a few days, and is now with Simons’ family in Virginia. A veterinarian said she is three years old, and after she completes a heartworm treatment, she’ll be spayed – and then she’ll be coming to the dealership on New Britton Highway.
“After we got her settled,” Simons said, “I found out about how some dogs get turned out at the end of hunting season, and some just get lost. I hope we can help start or support some kind of a rescue for hunting dogs. She’s a sweet girl.”
Simons said that wherever he has lived, he has always wanted to be a part of the community.
“I feel like it’s a business owner’s responsibility,” he said. “There are other ways you invest in your community outside of owning a car dealership.”
Car sales is a passion with Simons: at 22, he got his first job selling automobiles, and at 28 was general manager of a dealership. At age 37, he bought into a partnership. At one point, he said, he was responsible for five different dealerships.
“They were all clustered together,” he said, “and my office was in the center of it all. It was busy.”
Simons grew up in one of the poorest counties in the nation (McDowell County, W.V.), then moved into the western part of Virginia as work required. He and his wife Kelly will soon be making their home here.
When Simons decided to buy a dealership on his own, he said the family wanted to go somewhere “warmer.” Snow, ice and zero-degree winters are common in his home country.
“We looked around, and this area has so much to offer,” he said. “There’s a lot of growth, and the potential for more. We’re right down the road from the beaches. It’s still a small town, which is what I prefer.”
It usually takes upwards of six months to find and purchase a dealership, Simons said. It took less than three for him to find and make a deal on the business here.
“I think that was a sign we were supposed to be here,” he said.
Simons said he hopes to soon offer Saturday service. Simons Chevrolet GMC is open Monday through Saturday at 8 a.m.
The day starts much earlier for his team, however – the sales team that helped rescue Remy hits the gym at 5 a.m. before breakfast every morning, then makes their way to work by 8. Simons said he brought several members of his best sales team along to his new place, but he also tried to keep everyone who was already working at the dealership.
“We didn’t want any jobs lost,” he said. “I’ve found you have to have a family to be successful, a good work family, and that’s what we’re creating here.”
Family is first and foremost with Simons – his parents George and Wanda, who have been married for 63 years, will soon be moving here. It isn’t uncommon to find them at the dealership.
Starting April 1, Remy will be coming to work as well, as the official Simons Chevrolet GMC mascot.
“She has domesticated some,” Simons said. “I hope she’ll be able to spend every day with us. It’s just relaxing for both the staff and the customers to have a good dog around.”
Simons Chevrolet GMC is located at 363 Vinson Blvd., Whiteville. Log on to simonschevygmc.com , follow Simons Chevrolet GMC on Facebook, or call 910.642.2400.
