Mark Hamby – Celebrating 37 years as Perry’s Hometown Dealer

“When it comes to the car business, you either love it or don’t, but you have to love it to be successful,” says Mark Hamby of Hamby Automotive in Perry.

Hamby and his staff, rather his family/team as he refers, celebrated the dealership’s 37th anniversary on June 1. So one can infer that a longstanding business like Hamby Chevrolet is successful.

Hamby is a 1983 graduate of Perry High School. On June 1, 1981 his father James Larry Hamby opened the Chevrolet dealership. Just prior to opening in Perry, his father owned/operated a used car lot in Warner Robins. Hamby followed in his father’s footsteps because he truly enjoyed being in the car business.

“I sold my first car when I was 11 years-old,” Hamby said. “It was a 1971 red Pontiac GTO with a black top and I sold it to a man named Possum. Possum worked for Whole Sale Tires here in Perry up until four years ago when he retired. So I have always loved this business and never thought about doing anything else.”

After Hamby graduated high school he began working full-time at his father’s dealership in Perry. He said he started out in the parts department, then from there moved his way up to working in service, then service advisor, manager, sales, sales manager, finance manager, to owner.

The economy in the United States during the late 2000’s was referred to as the great recession, but during those years Hamby said due to their loyal customers, the dealership continued to be successful. Hamby bought the dealership from his father on June 20, 2008.

“Four months prior to me buying the dealership, the price of gas skyrocketed to nearly $5 a gallon,” Hamby said. “But by 2009 we increased our employees by 15 percent, never cut anyone’s pay or benefits, and continued to have great sales. That’s all because of the type of customers we have. We have built great relationships and have been blessed by them.”

It’s not all about just the dealership for Hamby, it’s also about giving back to the community’s future. Hamby is a member of the Perry Rotary Club and through the dealership, provides sponsorships to the local schools.

“We only sponsor our local kids/students,” Hamby said. “We don’t sponsor things such as adult softball teams or race cars, it’s only for the kids because they are our future. We try to be involved and support as much as we can.”

Hamby Automotive has supplied vehicles for local school teams to travel to competitions, sponsored recreation teams such as softball, football, etc., and purchased books for the elementary schools.

Another reason for Hamby’s success is his longstanding staff/team, some of whom have been with the dealership for more than 20 years.

“The staff here has made this a career, not just a job,” Hamby said. “One of our guys, Walter Nelson, actually started with my father in 1976 at the used car lot, then came to the Chevrolet dealership, and has been with us now for 42 years. My service manager has been with us for 29 years. Some of our service department people have been with us for 20 years. So it’s not just a job or staff, and it’s not my dealership, it’s ours. We are a family here and everyone takes pride in what we do.”

Hamby is married to his wife Tammy and has three children. Currently the third generation of his family, his son Matthew, is working at the dealership. Hamby said the goal is to keep the dealership in the family.

“We love it here in Perry and want to continue to be here for a long time,” Hamby said. “We have been very blessed and are very grateful to everyone who has made us so successful.”