Award-Winning Bourne's Auto Center Proves it Can Be Bigger While Staying Better

in Easton has successfully proved that a quality, family-run, local business doesn't need to be small.

In fact, it can be quite large.

The locally run auto dealer on Belmont Street was recently named the 23rd largest Independent Used Car Retailer in the country by Auto Dealer Monthly after selling 1,504 cars last year. It is the most cars sold by an independent used car dealer in Massachusetts.

The key to selling so many cars? A quality product and a quality experience, according to owner Jason Bourne.

"I think we do the right thing," he said. "43 percent of our customer base comes to us based on repeat and referral, and that’s a strong number."

Bourne's was honored in 2010 when it was chosen over 2,000 dealerships to be named the "Quality Dealer of the Year" by the Massachusetts Independent Auto Dealers Association.

Winning such awards doesn't come easy, and running a quality business starts with a good staff, Bourne said.

"We have very little employee turnover in an industry that typically has a lot of turnover," he said. "We have happy employees and that creates happy customers."

Bourne's has also been able to stay ahead of the curve.

In 2003, the dealership decided customers didn't want to haggle prices and switched to a fixed-price system, becoming one of the first in the area to do so.

"It was a scary thought but it was the best move we ever made," Bourne said. "Now a lot of dealers are following suit and the industry is starting to go that way."

The happy customers have been coming to Bourne's Auto Center for nearly 100 years. Since 1918, the Easton-based business has been in the auto industry. First, in trucking; then in leasing; and now in auto dealing.

Jason and his sister Jacqui, are part of a long-line of Bournes who have run the family business. Their father Calvin and grandfather Basel ran the business throughout most of the 20th century.

Jason Bourne credited his grandfather Basel for proving that bigger can be better.

"At one point my grandfather was the largest trucking operation in New England and now we’ve kind of followed in his footsteps and become the largest independent auto dealer in Massachusetts," he said.

The Bournes have been able to sell more cars than anyone in the state by staying local, too.

Rarely does a customer step foot in the showroom who isn't from Easton or a nearby town.

"When I exported all of our numbers to see where our core market was, it came out to dead on the number, 25 miles," General Manager Michael Kelley said.  "So, the core of our business is done within 25 miles of here."

Like their customers, the Bournes and many of their employees like to keep it local. The family has always had strong ties to the Shovel Town, and Jason Bourne said he takes pride in living and working in Easton.

It isn't uncommon to see a Bourne's-sponsored Easton Youth Baseball team or a hosted in the showroom.

"It’s a nice community to do business in and raise a family at the same time," Bourne said.