User talk:Timhop

The History of Car Supermarkets - Fords of Winsford (www.fow.co.uk)

Car supermarkets seem to be a relatively new concept but in fact go back to the 1950’s. In 1959 Vernon Ford a farmer from Holmes Chapel in Cheshire decided to sell cars as well as carrots. He had a keen interest in cars and was therefore well aware of the high prices charged by car dealers. He wanted to sell cars cheaply and knew that if he were to start a dealership this would come with a lot of overheads which would increase the prices. He had plenty of fields so decided to put one of them to use. He went to the auctions and bought a selection of cars, put them in the field and waited for customers to show up. Being a farm it was tucked away down a lane so there wasn’t much passing trade. Without the overhead costs of a dealership word soon spread and trade increased. Vernon continued to run the farm and sell cars. The car business grew to such a size that they needed to find new premises otherwise it would engulf the farm so they moved the cars to Wharton road in Winsford Cheshire which lasted them until 1996 when they moved to their present location on Weaver Valley Road. The company is still family run and now employs over 170 staff. Thus the car supermarket concept was born.