photo by Theodore Wiesehan Don (left) and Doug Rolfsmeier stand before the service entrance to their GM dealership. The business, a Seward fixture since 1944, was sold to Bob Meyer last week. Don Rolfsmeier is retiring after more than 50 years in the automotive sales business.

by Theodore Wiesehan

    After 62 years, Rolfsmeier Motors will close its doors for the final time.
     Bob Meyer, owner of Meyer Ford at junction of Interstate 80 and Highway 15, purchased the Chevrolet/Pontiac/Buick/Oldsmobile/GMC dealership and will open it Thursday, June 29, under the Meyer name.
     "Eventually I'm going to be building a new building out there (at the I-80 location)," Meyer said. He plans to house the dealership in a new facility just north of his current Ford dealership. "Construction should start the first of August. I hope to be completed, oh, I'm going to say sometime in November."
     Don Rolfsmeier, who operated Rolfsmeier Motors with his son, Doug, will retire after more than 50 years in the business. Doug said that his father's retirement is the primary reason for the dealership's sale.
     Meyer will keep the business at its current location at the corner of Sixth and Jackson until completion of the new site.
     He added that all the current Rolfsmeier employees will continue their employment at the new dealership. Doug Rolfsmeier himself said he plans to continue his work in automotive sales under the new ownership.
     "Everybody that wants to come is coming," Meyer said.
     Don's father, A.H. "Red" Rolfsmeier, started the business in 1944 in the brick building at Sixth and Jackson streets. Don started at the dealership in 1953.
     "It's completely different," he said, comparing auto sales of today with when he began. "The expense of the cars and the financing...and all the government regulations."
     The way people purchase cars has changed over the years, as well, Don said.
     "I think there's more financing," he said. "There's more leasing."
     Even before Red Rolfsmeier began business in the brick building, the location had its share of cars pass through.
     "This was a Ford assembly plant originally," Don said. "That's what it was built to be."
     Even the building currently housing Vicki's Sports Bar served as part of the old Ford operation.
     "They had a (second-floor) ramp across the alley before the power lines were in there," Don said. "They pushed them in there and painted them, then they pushed them back over here."
     The building will be sold upon completion of Meyer's new facility.
     "We've had some interest (in the building)," Doug Rolfsmeier said. "We just haven't pursued any of that until we got the word that it was a done deal."
     That word came June 22 from Chevrolet.
     "It's been a very pleasant experience," Meyer said of the transaction. "Everybody's been good all the way around to work with - GM and the Rolfsmeiers."
     Meyer recently completed a new facility for his Ford dealership at his I-80 location, and said the change has been excellent for business.
     "We're allowed to display more cars properly," he said. "We're allowed to service cars better with a new facility. Just overall, sales have increased. I would say just versus the old store we're up 35 percent or so for total volume - service and sales and everything."
     The upcoming transfer of his new GM dealership to I-80 will not be the only relocation in Meyer's life, however, as the Weeping Water man and his family will soon reside in Seward County.
     "I am actually moving to the rural Seward area August 2," Meyer said, adding that he has wanted to relocate to the area for some time but had been waiting for his house to sell. "I have two sons that are going to Milford schools next year."