by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Workspace: Keith Pierson Toyota owner Keith Pierson
Keith Pierson is living proof the combination of skill and determination combined with a bit of good luck can lead to one heck of a career.
As most know from the TV ads and billboards, Pierson owns Keith Pierson Toyota on the Westside, just off Blanding Boulevard. What most likely don’t know is how Pierson became one of the most successful Toyota dealers in the country.
He’s originally from Niagara Falls, N.Y., and came from a simple neighborhood that was a mix of Irish-Americans, Polish-Americans and African-Americans. His house was a two-story home that looked like most in the area. The community took pride in the neighborhood and watched out for each other.
As a child, Pierson said he was fascinated with bicycles and cars.
“Before I could even drive, I would buy cars,” said Pierson.
“I would collect, out of the garbage, bike parts and rebuild them. I’d sell them to the neighborhood kids for a dollar down and 25 cents a week. I always liked cars, too. Behind my parents’ house was a big garage.”
In that garage, his father, the older kids and men in the neighborhood would work on their cars and build race cars.
Eventually, Pierson went to work for Harrison Radiator.
“We made all of the A/C and radiators for all GM cars. I was 18 years old and making great money,” he said.
Within a couple of years, Pierson was laid off and started cleaning cars with a friend.
“I had never cleaned a car in my life. After a while, I could see the partnership wasn’t working,” he explained. “So, I bought him out. I started to do things myself and I was doing really good.”
Then fate intervened. Harrison called. They had a $20,000 check for him as part of what he was told was a “trade adjustment allowance” that had to do with a tax on imported cars. Another $30,000 was coming in the mail, he was told (it did) and Pierson was offered his old job.
He declined.
“I bought all the necessary equipment to be successful in the detail and minor repair business,” he said. “Then, I started to sell used cars. Through the used car dealership and detail business, I made a living until we moved here.”
Pierson moved to Homestead and worked at a handful of dealerships, including Toyota.
Along the way, he became very good at selling cars. As he progressed, the offers improved. At one point, Pierson had to make a career-altering decision: take over a failing Toyota dealership in Atlanta owned by Roger Penske or stay in South Florida.
“My wife recommended I take the bigger store in Atlanta,” he said.
He and his wife, Claudy, have daughters Danny and Alex, the stars in his TV commercials.
Today, Pierson’s dealership sits on 14 acres and he has about 160 associates (he refuses to refer to them as employees) and estimates it would set you back about $70 million to $90 million if you wanted to buy him out. He admits it’s a tough business, but his success has afforded luxuries.
Pierson calls the business “hour-intensive” because people tend to shop for a new vehicle after work and on the weekend. And he’s picky about his sales associates.
“I don’t hire other people’s sales people,” he said, adding 99 percent are trained from scratch.
“I don’t like other people’s bad habits. There is a reason we are successful. We do it right 100 percent of the time.”
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