Town & Country

C M Y K 6 WINNIPEG FrEE PrESS, SATurDAY JuNE 21, 2014 M E L N I C K M O T O R S H is grandfather owned a farm in Whitemouth, and it was there that Jeff's mechanically inclined father and uncle had built three different versions of a snow-plane in the workshop. "I remember my grandfather threatened to burn down the shop because he thought my father and uncle should spend less time working on their plane and more time tilling the fields," Jeff says. The snow-plane was fitted with skis, powered by a Harley-Davidson engine and propelled across the snow by a prop carved by the brothers from a single block of wood. When he left the farm, Jeff's father rented a shop in Whitemouth, where he welded and repaired autos. Not long after, he bought property and opened the town's first Allis-Chalmers tractor dealership. At the same time, he sold GMC cars that he brought to Whitemouth from Beausejour, and in 1955, he was offered a GM franchise in Whitemouth. "My father borrowed the money from my grandfather and opened his GM franchise in Whitemouth on Aug. 1, 1955," Jeff says. When he returned home, one of the side benefits to Jeff's new job was that he got to drive a new demo vehicle. He began to invest in the business, but eventually, GM made it clear that he would never be the lone GM dealer in Whitemouth. Instead, the company proposed that the Melnicks buy the Agassiz Motors franchise and the Gretzinger's GM dealership in Beausejour. "In 1995, my father and I decided to take the plunge," Jeff says. A year after buying the businesses, they bought Sobetski's Polaris dealership and converted it into a body shop. In 2001, Melnick Motors renovated the former Gretzinger's building, adding a drive-through service centre, a new showroom and four extra service bays. Today, Melnick's has 25 full-time employees and operates one of the best service departments in the province. Jeff says crew and double-cab pickup trucks account for a lot of his vehicle sales, though extended crews continue to gain in popularity. "In a farm community, people want a vehicle that can work hard, but still be used for family outings," he says, adding a small cruise-clean diesel-powered pickup will be available in the near future that will get over 65 miles per gallon of fuel. "There is already a small GM car on the market that uses the same cruise-clean technology to get similar mileage," he says, adding that for environmentalists GM offers the Volt, a pure electric car. Jeff says even though his father is now 92 years old and living in a retirement home, he still phones a couple of times a week to check up on the dealership. Though the business has been in the family for nearly 50 years, Jeff isn't sure it will be passed along to another generation. "I have three daughters, Madi, 17; Katya, 21; and Kilmeny, 23, who all seem set on going their own ways," he says. "Madi is graduating from high school this spring, Katya is in fourth-year animal science and wants to become a veterinarian, and Kilmeny is in first-year medicine." While his days as a park ranger are in the distant past, Jeff still loves the outdoors. He lives in a beautiful waterfront home in the Seven Sisters area with his wife and youngest daughter. "I guess a part of me still belongs to nature." ❙ Wheels of foRtune Nature lover shifted gears to join family business By David Square For the Free Press Nature lover Jeff Melnick was working as a park ranger in Alberta in 1984 when he got an urgent call from his father back home in Whitemouth, Manitoba. His father owned a local GMC dealership and needed help with the new comput- er technology that was creeping into the industry. And so, Jeff shifted gears and changed careers. "I loved the outdoors," he says. "But the lure of becoming part of the family busi- ness finally made my decision for me." IN A FARM COMMUNITy, PEOPLE WANT A VEhICLE ThAT CAN WORk hARD, bUT STILL bE USED FOR FAMILy OUTINGS. 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R2H0G3 237-9600 FAX233-2689 ajhlaw@mts.net Formakingour OPENHOUSE AHugeSuccess! g Management&Staff LACDUBONNET,MB ThankYou!!! < Jeff Melnick still enjoys the outdoors, even at his auto dealership. "

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