Thor Motors invests in future of local community

For more than half a century, Thor Motors has been an Orillia landmark, deeply rooted in the community, selling Ford vehicles to generations of local residents.

When Henry Thor first began selling Fords in 1961, it was an era of fins, steel and chrome; the heyday of the Detroit boom was starting. Henry’s sons – Kris and Terry – along with Kris’s high school friend, Bob Brown, took the wheel of the dealership in 1978. In the mid 1980s, Kris Thor and Brown purchased Terry Thor’s share; the duo have steered the business ever since.

The past decade has been a difficult one for the North American auto industry. But Thor and Brown have been able to not only ride out the storm, they’ve turned the uncertainty of a recession into stability, paving the way for a rock-solid future for the company.

The two believe in Orillia – in its heritage and its future. It’s why they shunned suitors and decided to invest at a time when many of their vintage might have cashed in.

“For many years, we had a vision of a new, state-of-the-art dealership and, perhaps more importantly, of transforming this part of the city,” said Brown.

“We wanted people driving into this part of town not to feel like they’re driving into a depressed area,” said Thor.

With that in mind, the pair slowly began buying up homes and lots on the fringes of their Gill Street property. To help fund their dream, they rented out those properties as they painstakingly assembled land. Over the ensuing decades, they bought 13 lots and nine houses.

In 2004, two years after they purchased Kemp Lincoln Mercury to become the city’s only Ford store, they opened a file with local architect Rod Young as their vision finally began to take shape. It did not happen overnight. But, finally, in November, the new Thor Motors was unveiled. It’s more than just a car dealership.

“Really, it’s a legacy project,” says Brown, whose grandfather owned Brown Brothers & Eplett Motors in Orillia. “We have really cleaned up an entrance to the city. We hope it sparks redevelopment in this part of town.”

Thor concedes prudence might have dictated a different course. “At our age, we probably shouldn’t have done something like this,” he says of the ambitious, multi-million-dollar project. “But we feel a deep sense of responsibility and loyalty to both our customers and our employees that got us here. That’s what has driven this whole project.”

The new dealership is larger, brighter and has curb appeal – something that’s evident to anyone driving by. But that’s just scraping the surface. Today’s Thor Motors bears little resemblance to the three rambling buildings that formerly housed the enterprise.

Brown and Thor made a conscious and determined effort to go green. They estimate they’ve reduced the company’s carbon footprint by more than 50%.

From its 13-feet-high, energy-efficient windows that allow natural light to flood into the showroom to its LED lights both inside and outside the building, to flooring that never requires waxing or chemical cleaning to its decision to eliminate bottled water, energy efficiency is a theme throughout the building – and a philosophy shared by staff.

“Each year, we were going though about 7,000 bottles of water that we had to transport here, we had to store and, worst of all, were eventually sent to the landfill,” Brown explained. “Now, we have a filtered, chilled system that dispenses water served in compostable plastic cups.”

That water system is also used for an in-house coffee brewing system that will divert an estimated 15,000 cups a year from the waste stream. And, there is nary a paper towel in the gleaming, new facility. Instead, hand dryers have been installed; the next-generation equipment uses 80% less energy than older units.

The green approach is also evident in the service department, where an overhead bulk dispensing system has been developed for anti-freeze, washer fluid, transmission fluid and engine oil.

“On average, each year, our shop uses about 1,000 jugs of anti-freeze, 2,600 jugs of washer fluid and 34,000 litres of engine oil … this new system will allow us to reduce waste and also create a cleaner shop and allow us to give faster service. Everything we’ve done, we’ve done with customers and employees in mind,” Brown said.

While the new design, natural light and amenities are important, uniting all departments was also a critical component of the redevelopment, Thor said.

“It’s fantastic for our staff and for our customers to have everything under one roof,” said Thor. “This is a nice, modern state-of-the-art building.”

In addition to the bright and spacious showroom – “We wanted the cars to be the stars,” Brown said – there is a spacious, comfortable waiting area with a large flat-screen TV and comfortable arm chairs with swivelling work stations and Wi-Fi service.

The new building also offers drive-in service. Customers can drive through a service door that opens automatically into a large space, where a service writer will begin work; the customer never has to step outside in the elements.

Brown and Thor give much credit for the finished product to Orillia’s Monteith Building Group. Owner Michael Monteith personally pitched for the project.

“He came down and met with us and we shared our vision for the project,” said Brown. “He offered to do some drawings … and we told him we were interested, but we weren’t going to pay for anything at that stage.”

Monteith understood, but went to work. He and his staff developed comprehensive plans for a new energy-efficient building and, eventually, earned the contract.

“We are absolutely thrilled with the work they did,” said Thor. “It was very important to us to use local suppliers. This is where we live and it’s where we make our living … that was critical to us.”

For Thor and Brown, the project is a culmination of a long-held dream that was three decades in the making. Both say they could never have realized the dream without the support of the community.

“We have many loyal customers who have been with us since the beginning – some who have bought more than 40 vehicles from us over the years,” said Thor.

They’ve also had a number of key employees who have been a part of the team since those humble beginnings when there was just a dozen on staff. Today, the company employs 47 people – one has been with them for 31 years and five others have worked at Thor for more than 25 years.

“Our staff is fantastic,” said Brown, noting their breadth of experience and expertise and their roots in the community are part of the reason Thor commands a large share of the automobile market among Orillia dealerships. “We wouldn’t be here without them.”

It was with those employees in mind, that a well-stocked lunch room and meeting room was incorporated in the design. But Thor and Brown went a step further, creating a large board room equipped with a white board, TV and Internet that is connected to a separate kitchen and lunch room.

“We call it the Community Room and it’s available to community groups that need a boardroom-type facility,” said Brown. “Already, many groups have taken advantage of this service.”

Throughout its existence, Thor Motors has supported the community. It regularly sponsors sports teams, donates money to the Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital, Lakehead University and many other community causes. But it rarely trumpets its philanthropy.

“We just do it because it’s the right thing to do. We are for Orillia through and through,” said Thor.

For more information or to check out the new facility, drop into 201 Gill Street, call 705-326-6447 or visit thormotors.com.

Submitted photo:
Kris Thor, left, and Bob Brown, co-owners of Thor Motors on Gill Street, stand in the new showroom that is part of a brand new Ford store the duo have created – the realization of a long-held dream to transform one of the key entrances to the city.