Deacon Jones buys Performance

Eight years ago, Deacon Jones Auto Group announced its presence in Clinton with the purchase of a well-known dealership greeting visitors from the western part of Sampson County. Now, another seismic sale of a familiar local name will see Deacon Jones establish a foothold on the east side of Sampson’s seat, as Performance Automotive has sold its locations to the expanding behemoth.

The acquisition was made official Wednesday, with Thursday marking the first full day of Deacon Jones’ ownership of the former Performance Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram on Warsaw Road and Performance Ford on Southeast Boulevard.

The sale concludes a nearly 11-year run for Performance, which built from the ground up at its flagship Warsaw Road location, and marks an expansion to four Clinton dealerships for Deacon.

Ken Jones, president and CEO for Deacon Jones, said it was a seamless sale, crediting owners Vince and Ingrid Burgess for ensuring that transition. Deacon Jones plans to retain roughly 90 percent of the approximately 100 employees at the two locations, Jones noted.

“We had the most pleasant, professional process with the Burgess family,” Jones said Thursday, crediting Clinton Mayor Lew Starling as being “instrumental” in getting the parties together. “It was the easiest, simplest and most agreeable transaction than any we’ve ever been involved with.”

Ingrid Burgess, owner and comptroller for Performance, said the owners weren’t seeking out a sale, but when they were approached by Jones, the decision was ultimately made to close a chapter. Terry Lee, a co-owner and general manager for Performance, will be retiring as part of the transition.

“They did keep most of the employees, so it’s going to be the same Performance people, just a different culture and a different name,” Burgess said. “It’s definitely bittersweet, especially for Terry and I, because we were in the stores every day. It’s a little sad driving away for the last time, but I know they’re in good hands and Deacon Jones has been successful wherever they go, and I hope they just continue to build on that Performance legacy.”

The two-dealership acquisition is the second in Clinton for Deacon Jones, which acquired the former Go Automotive Toyota and Buick-GMC-Chevrolet locations on Sunset Avenue in November 2016.

“The two-dealership acquisition from eight years ago has worked out very well, and the people in Clinton have been favorable to us; and the town has been favorable to us,” Jones said. “We didn’t have any presence on the east side of town and (Performance) became available. They are very good brands and they’re very good truck brands, which lends itself to be favorable in a community that has a lot of agriculture surrounding it. The brands were a positive decision, and being able to deal with the Burgess family was a positive decision.”

This is the third Ford franchise and second Chrysler franchise for Deacon, which allows them some depth.

“They can play off each other, and help each other, when you have multiple brands of the same kind,” Jones noted.

Deacon’s most recent acquisition before Wednesday was the BMW-Chevrolet-GMC-Ford-Kia group of dealerships along N.C. 58 in Kinston earlier this year. That BMW dealership meant Deacon’s first luxury import brand, and the ownership of one of just a dozen BMW dealerships in the Carolinas, Jones noted. He said that BMW location serves the Clinton and Sampson County market as well.

Deacon Jones now owns stores from Greenville to Clinton, Goldsboro to Garner, all within about a 50-mile radius of its home office in Smithfield.

“We’re in four adjoining counties — Lenoir, Wayne, Johnston and Sampson,” Jones attested. “We have 26 brands, 16 rooftops and an additional four pre-owned satellite lots and four body shops, of which one is in Clinton.”

The Performance acquisition also means Deacon Jones now boasts a fleet operation, located adjacent to the Chrysler location, that has been recognized over the years among the nation’s most sizable.

“They are one of the largest state and government contract dealers in the state,” Jones noted. “It helps us provide additional purchasing power to the government and state employees who are associated with those entities that we sell to.”

Deacon Jones now employs well over 600 employees company-wide, of which about one-fourth — roughly 150-160 — are at the four dealerships in Clinton.

Back in 2016, Toyota was the only major mainstream brand that Deacon Jones was without, having recently acquired a Honda store in Goldsboro, which also serves Clinton. Then Clinton’s Go dealerships came available.

That Toyota dealership filled the void — the “missing gem,” Jones deemed it — and provided a stronger presence in Johnston and Sampson by having a Buick-GMC-Chevrolet store in two of the largest land mass counties in the state. The Toyota dealership in Clinton is still the only one operated by Deacon Jones.

“We grew a lot after that purchase in Clinton (in 2016); in 2017, 2018, we had a growth spurt,” Jones remarked. “I think we’ve been kind of dormant until 2024 when we had the Kinston transaction then this transaction. Dealership purchases generally come around only in a generation. So when opportunity presents itself that makes sense, then certainly Deacon Jones wants to be a company that wants to be considered by any seller. Then we have to make the decision if it’s a good choice for us. Being we already had an association and an establishment in Sampson County, this married very well since we’re already there managing and operating now.”

Ken Jones’ father Bobby Kenneth “Deacon” Jones went into the new car franchise business in June 1978. Given the nickname “Deacon” in high school for his father’s years as a pastor, Bobby “Deacon” Jones always put the customer first and prided himself on good service. At the time he started, the family business sold just two brands — Pontiac and Buick.

Now, the names under the Deacon umbrella are bountiful.

Born and raised in Princeton in Johnston County, Ken Jones said his family has lived, worked and worshipped in the same community their whole lives. Their home church is Princeton Church of God, where his grandfather, the Rev. Clyde Jones, pastored for two separate stints. Jones cites the Christian principles on which the family company operates, an oft-seen motto around the dealerships — “We treat people the way we would like to be treated” — further driving that message home.

His father, who passed away in January 2010, lived by that. Both of Jones’ grandfathers were ministers. Integrity, strong values and faith mean everything, he has said.

Jones took over as president and CEO after his father’s sudden passing and he, along with his Deacon and Faye Woodall Jones’ other children — Ken’s brother Dale and sister Tina — are equal owners and officers, but Ken Jones plays the primary role in the day-to-day operations.

“It’s unusual for a small family-owned dealership to acquire every major brand we have acquired, but the good Lord has smiled upon us and given us the opportunities,” Jones said of the Goldsboro and Clinton locations in 2016.

At the time, there were 14 brands, with approximately 350 employees under the Deacon Jones umbrella. Now, there are 26 brands and more than 600 employees.

Through the years, Deacon Jones has grown in Clinton, as N.C. 24 expanded, the city’s flow of traffic followed and business after business began to pop up along one of Sampson’s main thoroughfares. That growth is now continuing on the other side of town.

“We are committed to keeping it a family business,” said Jones, “and growing where opportunity presents itself in the future.”

Knowing full well the hard work it takes to build something, Jones credited the Burgess family and Performance Automotive.

Performance grew from nothing at its Warsaw Road location in Clinton more than a decade ago, and became a behemoth in its own right — not just in vehicle sales that regularly rank among the best in the nation, but in the impact it made in the community.

Just three years after the giant dealership and showroom at Warsaw Road opened its doors with just 20 employees, Performance grew into a second location, taking over the previous Ford of Clinton dealership on Southeast Boulevard (U.S. 701 Business) in summer of 2016, and subsequently rebranding it Performance Ford. That location saw its own expansion, including a new showroom in early 2020.

The Performance Automotive dealership marked a special endeavor for the Burgess family. Vince has built and upfitted many buildings over the years, including several in downtown Clinton, but usually moved on after the work was done. Performance was different.

“We’ve watched employees buy their first homes, get married, have children — we were all a big family, so it is bittersweet in that sense,” said Ingrid.

“Vince is never without a project,” said Ingrid, talking about what was on the horizon. “I will still be in Clinton every week here and there, just to close everything up at both stores, but then I will ride off and find my next adventure.”