Amid a Challenging Economy, Atamian Volkwagon-Honda Eyes Growth

When it comes to automobile sales, you could say that Terry “Reed” Atamian has been around the block -- and back again.

The dealer recently celebrated his 42nd year of President’s Day sales at his location at 150 Main St. The history of the Atamian family in the automobile industry, however, goes further back than that.

The Atamians began selling cars as early as 1919, but it wasn’t until 1924 before the family sold their first new car. They have been in the business so long, in fact, that several of the car manufacturers of their early dealerships no longer exist: Hudson, Rambler, Nash, and American Motors. The Atamian family has dealt in so many iconic brands that Reed has trouble remembering them all.

“The list goes on. I’m probably missing a few unless I look at the list,” he said.

Reed bought the lot where now sits in 1968. At that time, it was just a small parcel. He has since added four adjoining parcels so that his full plot extends for six acres up to the 495 on-ramp.

“It was just this piece of blacktop,” said Atamian of the 1960’s facilities. “Now I own from 495 all the way to Rte. 38.”

VW was the only make Reed Atamian sold throughout the 1960’s until Honda was added to the lot in 1976. Currently, Atamian Volkswagon and Honda is planning to further renovate its facilities. A $10-million-dollar expansion to the Honda dealership is in the works. At this point the blueprints have been drawn up, and the next step is to meet with American Honda. The dealership’s plans, according to Atamian, are to renovate a brick building at the back of the lot that is being used for storage.

“We’re hoping to turn that into the future home of Atamian Honda,” he said.

The meeting with American Honda is scheduled for within the month, and the dealership expects to get work underway as soon as the town rubberstamps the project. Atamian isn’t holding his breath, as recently it took about two years for the dealership to get the OK to pave two vacant lots.

“Maybe this will go quicker now because we won’t encounter some of the issues we had on the first go-around,” he said hopefully.

The postponement of a new building doesn’t seem to be hampering Atamian’s ability to do business in the least. According to Atamian, the dealership is experiencing record numbers in terms of new sales and cars delivered.

“Volkswagon’s very hot right now,” he said, “and Honda just continues to grow. We seem to sell 10 to 15 percent more Hondas each year from the previous year.”

The numbers support this statement. From Fiscal Year 2009-2010, to Fiscal Year 2010-2011, Honda’s sales jumped 18.8 percent and VW’s spiked by 21.5 percent. Thanks to sales from President’s Day, the dealership had nearly 200 new cars delivered this month. Atamian also saw its highest sales this past December, selling 191 Hondas over the course of a single month.

All this success has enabled Reed Atamian to give back generously to the community and a variety of local charities.  Atamian is involved with the Tewksbury Patriotic Committee, and says he will be there in the future to help in whatever way he can.

“We’re committed to (continuing) our relationship with them,” he said.

In the past, he also donated a new Eurovan to Tewksbury’s D.A.R.E program, an initiative that encourages children to stay drug-free.

For Atamian, active community involvement is a necessary part of his presence in the town, especially in the current economic climate.

“We need to get the word out because these organizations are getting crunched in this current economy, and it might encourage other businesses to step up,” Atamian said in a press release.

Though he had contributed to multiple organizations for many years, Reed didn’t realize how much his contributions inspired others until he attended “A Magical Evening” with Dr. Murray Feingold. At this event, the National Center for Birth Defects was renamed the Dr. Murray Feingold Center for Children.

At “A Magical Evening” Dr. Feingold encouraged Atamian not to give anonymously so that others unsure of contributing “would feel compelled to do so as well”, said Atamian.

Atamian said that this exhortation helped him to continue his work with charities. In October, a donation that Atamian made to .

“The four of us teamed together to make a larger donation,” said Atamian. “And that was all part of getting the word out.”

As for Atamian’s charity of choice? He prefers The Genesis Foundation because of its focus on helping underprivileged children.

“The Genesis fund is my leading charitable organization that I support,” said Atamian. “They’re like my number one cause for the wonderful work they do with less fortunate children.”

As is the case with cars sold, the list is long for charities Mr. Atamian supports. Along with the Genesis Fund, Atamian donates to “Juvenile Diabetes, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Cam Neely Foundation, and various Tewksbury and Lowell youth organizations,” according to Atamian’s website.

The Atamian name has been in business in Tewkbury now for 92 years and spanning four generations. With an expansion on the way, it is likely that the Atamians will be doing good things for many years to come. Atamian is of the opinion that they may even be expanding to other locations in Tewksbury somewhere down the line.

“I forsee the business growing to a point where I’m going to need additional land,” he said.