From a popcorn stand to 25 dealerships.

The Garber Automotive Group story starts on the outskirts of Lansing on a small farm, where Guy S. Garber was born in 1884. Guy was homeschooled his whole life by his mother, and the family was so poor, some years they couldn’t afford shoes for him in the winter. But these humble beginnings couldn’t hold Guy’s entrepreneurial skills back. At only nine years old, he started his first business selling popcorn in Lansing. He took the work ethic and skills he built from that job to selling newspapers as a teenager, and to eventually working alongside his father to sell farm implements.

Guy Garber’s work ethic and sales prowess caught the eye of Billy Durant, one of the founders of General Motors. In 1907, Durant invited the 23-year-old Guy Garber to Flint to work for Buick as a factory representative, opening a dealership in Battle Creek, Michigan. Three years later, Garber arrived in Saginaw and opened the store that would eventually become Garber Buick, our flagship store. In 1912, he bought out Buick’s interest in the Saginaw dealership and by 1913, Garber was granted the wholesale responsibility from Saginaw County north to the Straits of Mackinac, thereby establishing the Saginaw Distributorship and becoming one of the original Buick Thirteen distributors.

Guy Garber held that Buick distributorship until his death in 1965. But that wasn’t the end of the Garber story. His son, Richard Garber Sr., took over and guided the store through the 1960s and early ’70s. And in 1980, Guy’s grandson Richard J. Garber Jr. became president in the company’s 73rd year, making him the youngest Buick dealer in the nation.

Garber Automotive Group has grown significantly since 1907. Today, the organization includes 25 new-vehicle dealerships representing 16 brands across six states. The Garber family of businesses also includes RightWay Auto Sales, a chain of used car dealerships; Gateway Financial Solutions, a subprime lending company; and the Saginaw Spirit, an OHL hockey franchise established in 2001 that went on to become the 2024 Memorial Cup champions. All this and more while remaining a family-owned business founded over a hundred years ago.

A century of automotive pioneering.

In 1907, most of Michigan still thought the horse and buggy were here to stay. Guy S. Garber, a 23-year-old farm-implement salesman, had a different vision – one where the automobile was the future of transportation. His passion caught the eye of Billy Durant, the founder of General Motors, who put him on the road to selling Buicks and opening dealerships across Michigan.

Guy Garber opened a Buick dealership in Saginaw in 1910, bought out the factory’s retail interest in 1912, and by 1913, he held the wholesale territory from Saginaw County all the way north to the Straits of Mackinac. His partnership with GM lasted nearly 60 years, and when he died in 1965, Garber Buick was the last Buick distributor in America.

Where the name first went over a door: R. J. Garber Farm Implements, 414 N. Washington Avenue, Lansing.

Guy Garber at work in the Saginaw office.