Mark Pogue believes in keeping his business philosophy simple. "Do the very best for everybody, everyday." That creed has catapulted Mark Pogue from a small business man operating a used car lot from the front lawn of his home in 1987, to one of the larger investors in his home county.
The 1975 Hughes Kirk High School graduate grew up on the family farm six miles south of Greenville, Kentucky where Pogue lives today with his wife. He says he didn't set out to make his mark in the automotive business, and it took a while for him to find his niche in the industry. Pogue worked five years as a Coca Cola route salesman until the Central City, Kentucky plant closed. He went to work in 1990 for American Bakery out of Nashville as a route representative, reintroducing Sunbeam Bread products to the Muhlenberg County area.
In 1987, Pogue and a partner invested in the used car business in his hometown of Beechmont, starting D&P Auto Sales, Inc. Beechmont had a population of less than eight hundred people, and the coal mines were laying off workers and shutting down operations. Three years later he bought out his partern and moved the used car operation to Powderly. From 1990 until 1993, Pogue would get up at 3:30 in the morning to run the bread route. He would sell cars from 3 o'clock in the afternoon until six or seven in the evening. Then it was back home to unload the bread truck and do the paperwork for both businesses. Pogue was in bed by ten o'clock and back up at 3:30 to do it all over again.
In 1994, D&P Auto Sales, moved a 1,000 feet up the street to a larger, modern sales facility with showrooms and introduced computer technology to manage his growing inventory of certified pre-owned vehicles. Also during that time, Pogue introduced a plan to provide a way for the people of Muhlenberg County to purchase a current model year used vehicle with monthly payments of $200. The vehicles were purchased from program and off lease agencies. Pogue matched customer's trade-in or cash down payment up to $2,000. That gave people who had been displaced from their jobs a down payment of up to $4,000 toward a practically new vehicle.
In 1999, Pogue acted on an opportunity to take over the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep operation in Greenville owned by Lester Motors. The franchise re-opened under the Pogue banner in August 2000. Pogue improved communication with Chrysler, arranging for daily parts delivery, and modernizing the operation. At that period of time, there had never been a Chrysler dealer in the St. Louis zone to obtain a Five Star status with the company in less than a year. Pogue did it in ten months.
In November of 2000, Lester Motors, which also had the Chevrolet dealership in Central City, had decided to turn the franchise back to General Motors and lay off all of their employees. Instead of purchasing the Chevrolet dealership immediately, the Pogue Automotive Group opted to manage the Chevrolet operation, taking it over in March 2001. In the next four years, the Chevrolet dealership in Central City came a long way and the Pogue Automotive Group finalized the purchase of the Chevrolet franchise. It became a certified GM store and earned the GM Mark of Excellence.
In 2005, the Pogue Automotive Group purchased a plot of land and made plans for the future, dreams of building a state of the art facility, a shining star for our community. As discussion and thoughts were made the economy started shifting and Pogue's dream was halted.
Prior to the hardships of the recession in the later part of 2008, Pogue suffered the loss of one his stores due to an EF-3 tornado that struck his community on February 5, 2008, this tornado caused three fatalities. The tornado tracked 4 miles southwest of Pogue’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep store and ended approximately 3 miles north of his Chevrolet store. The tornado was roughly the size of 2.5 football fields. Pogue could have very easily lost all three of his store but only his first store, D&P Auto Sales, was hit. The building was a total loss and the majority of the vehicles only had minor damage. With hope still in the air, D&P Auto Sales was not built back in hopes of building it on the plot of land Pogue had plans for.
In addition, to the hardships that the ’08 recession brought, plus the loss of a store, Pogue faced yet another natural disaster. Former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear was even quoted saying, “The biggest natural disaster in modern Kentucky history,” in regards to the Ice/Snow Storm of late January 2009. This winter storm moved into southern Indiana and Northern Kentucky and continued over southern Kentucky. Several areas in Kentucky received over an inch of ice plus up to six inches of snow, shutting these areas down for days. Muhlenberg County, Kentucky received mostly ice and very little snow, paralyzing our community of 31,000 people for more than a week.
As with all things in life, sometimes bad things have to take place before good things can flourish. In 2011, at the annual dinner hosted by the Pogue Automotive Group for the Greater Muhlenberg Chamber of Commerce, Mark Pogue announced that his dream was finally coming true. His long-awaited plans of building a shining star for his community was going to happen. He was going to build an approximately 43,000 square foot state of the art facility, 3 rooftops with a gas station and car wash. Dirt work started the next month and construction started in January 2012. A year and a half later, Pogue hosted the Chamber of Commerce dinner within his new facility prior to opening for business. This gave local business owners a first look inside the new dealerships and a peek at the new services the Pogue Automotive Group would be able to offer.
About the same time that construction began, the other dealer in town decided to close down their business within Muhlenberg County and focus their efforts on their hometown dealership. During this process, they reached out to Mark Pogue about purchasing those franchises to add to the Chevrolet rooftop. In late 2012, Pogue Chevrolet became Pogue Chevrolet Buick GMC. A few years later, in 2016, Pogue Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram was sought out and selected to be one of the few new vehicle franchises to add FIAT to their rooftop.
Today, the Pogue Automotive Group has three dealerships, eight franchises, with approximately 60 employees. Pogue strives to do the very best for his employees, while providing the excellent service for his customers. With the opening of his complex in 2013, he was able to implement new loyalty rewards to retail customers. Every vehicle sold at the Pogue Automotive Group receives a loyalty card for discounted fuel at their gas station, in addition to four free oil changes to be used within the first two years of purchase. With every service visit, you get a trip to the car wash located within the auto plex.
Mark Pogue’s business has a real family flavor. His brother, Jerry, is the General Manager of the Chevrolet Buick GMC store. Mark’s wife, Freda, is the secretary for the group. His children being raised within the walls of a dealership take part in the company’s operation. Marla Pogue Divine, started as the Marketing Director in 2006 while she was attending Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Kentucky. Alex Pogue started to work in the sales department after graduating from Murray State University in 2013. Having moved up the ranks at the dealership he is now the General Manager at the Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT store and in line to be Pogue’s successor. Alex also lives on the family farm and helps Pogue run their cattle operation.