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It's not every day a family and two lifelong friends get together and buy a Ford franchise.
But in Rutherford County on Oct. 5 after months of discussion, Legendary Ford was begun when Shawn Moore, Ronnie Moore, Steve Moore, formerly owners of Moore's Autos; Tim Ridenhour of Friendship Nissan and Rodney Butler, former owner of Butler's Auto Parts, closed the deal with the Ford industry and the former Sisk Family Ford business had new owners.
The beginning of Legendary Ford began in early spring when Gene Sisk, owner of Sisk Family Ford, bumped into Shawn Moore and they struck up a conversation about the car business.
It seems like the very next day, when Butler ran into John Sisk, who was General Manager of Sisk Family Ford, and they had a similar conversation.
Unknown at the time to one another, the Sisks, Moores and Butler began conversation that soon turned to Butler's lifelong friend Ridenhour, asking him to join the picture.
After talks between each other and Ford, an offer was made to the Sisk family and two days later, it was a deal.
"It was a handshake deal," said Shawn Moore. Anything Gene and John Sisk did was honest and a person could count on their word, always," Shawn said.
There were a lot of issues to take care of after the handshake deal that literally took until October to seal the deal with the Ford industry.
The Sisk family was looking to close their 13 year business on Oak Street in Forest City to begin a new business venture in Gaffney and so they brought their thoughts to the table with Ronnie, Shawn and their dad Steve Moore, who began Moore's Auto Sales in 1981. Butler was also in the conversation.
To seal a deal with Ford, there had to be a person with new car sales business experience in the mix as the Moores had only dealt with used cars.
Tim Ridenhour, a lifelong friend of Butler, had nearly 38 years experience in the car sales business, first with Watkins (28 years) and then 9.5 years at Friendship Nissan in Forest City in the new car sales business.
Before the Ford company would sign off on the new deal, there had to be a general manager at the franchise or Ford could appoint someone on their own as general manager, Ridenhour explained.
Although Ridenhour had put in his unofficial notice that he was retiring in December 2023 from Friendship Nissan, he decided to put that off for a while and agreed to join the business.
With the five friends and business partners there are 100 years experience in the car business.
On Oct.5, the deal with Ford was sealed. The Moores, Butler and Ridenhour owned a Ford dealership which was a lifelong dream of the Moores.
Moore's Auto began when Steve Moore opened a car business on Broadway Street, across from Florence Baptist Church. In about 1990 Steve Moore bought property on S. Broadway, just beyond Florence, built a building and opened the car lot.
Today that lot is vacant.
"It's empty over there, but we have a lot of cars here," Shawn said.
"I believe everything happens for a reason," Shawn said. "Tim was about to retire, yet none of this would have worked without him," Ronnie said.
"And we couldn't do this without Tim. It's a learning curve for sure," said Shawn.
Tim has the new car sales experience, the Moores the used car experiences and Butler, the parts history.
Rodney retired from Butler Parts, but still helps his son with his business in Chesnee.
"We are a good team," Shawn said.
"We have a lot of cars here to offer," Ronnie said. Of the 100 used cars, there's about 10 new ones on the lot and that's expected to get better as the UAW strike with Ford has ended.
For Ronnie and Shawn, there's not really any difference in arriving to work at their new Oak Street business than it was on Broadway street.
"It's just a different address. We are doing this here, now," he said.
"We are very, very thankful to take this to the next level, reaching to the top of the plateau, to own a franchise... the finale," said Ronnie.
Everything about the change with Ford had to be updated including all technology issues and working out a lot of kinks regarding the new owners and new name. On the first day the new owners were ready to sell a car they couldn't sell. Tim said the changes in technology had not all been completed.
It wasn't an easy task, but it was all taken care of and now it's to selling cars.
Tim and Shawn will be the up front people while Ronnie and Rodney will be involved in buying cars for the lot and all other businesses that have to do with selling.
They are also proud that in McDowell, Rutherford and Cleveland counties Legendary Ford is the only locally, independently owned Ford franchise.
The foursome and Steve Moore believe they've already made an impact on Rutherford County and Forest City and will continue to do so in their new roles.
"Gene had done a great job. He's honest. He was ready to phase it out. It's such a modern store, we didn't really have to do anything to the building," Shawn continued.
The Sisk Family Ford staff remained with Legendary Ford staff, and everyone is thankful. One employee opted to retire and be a stay-at-home mom.
"We always wished we could do this, now we can," said Ronnie.
"This is a big deal" said Shawn.
Steve Moore, who began Moore's Autos, is continuing to be with his sons at the new location up on Oak Street. He'll still bring his little sidekick, Gracie, with him as they still have a corner spot at Legendary Ford.
