ELIZABETHTON — For decades, people driving east from Johnson City were greeted at the city limits of Elizabethton by a large car dealership. Acres of new cars under the banner of Grindstaff greeted everyone at 2214 W. Elk Ave.
Steve Grindstaff grew his business from a Chevrolet dealership into a Ford and a Chrysler dealership on that location and expanded into other dealerships in Johnson City.
After decades in the new car business, Grindstaff’s name disappeared from its original location this past year.
“Mr. Grindstaff founded his business here in 1985.” Said Josh Hartford, who continues to serve as general sales manager under the new owners. “After 37 years, he decided to partially retire.”
While Grindstaff continues to operate some of his dealerships at other locations, Hartford said the original location has been sold to ZT Motors of Houston, Texas. In a salute to the prominent location where it is located, Hartford said the new business is called Happy Valley Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram.
Hartford said ZT Motors is growing and hopes to acquire more dealerships in the Tri-Cities and in the Southeast. The corporation hopes to expand to 30 dealerships by next year.
Hartford said the arrival of the new corporation is good news for customers. He said ZT wants to grow, but he said “they want to do it the right way, by taking care of their customers, by supporting the community.”
Although there is new ownership, Hartford said old customers won’t see a lot of changes. One of the things that has stayed in place is Hartford. “ZT has kept the staff that was here and they have added more staff,” Harford said. “You will see a lot of familiar faces here.”
One thing that has changed is the inventory. ZT is a big company and Hartford said it is already using its buying power to expand the inventory and to bring in a substantial number of used cars.
According to a recent press release online, ZT Motors was founded in 2015. In addition to locations in Texas, the company operates automotive dealerships in Florida and Georgia for BMW, Chevrolet, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota.
ZT Motors is a part of ZT Corporate, which was established in 1997 and has grown into a full-service wealth management firm that provides specialized financial solutions to its clients through traditional, alternative and private equity investments. ZT Corporate provides investment opportunities in lower middle market companies, with a primary focus on the healthcare industry. Success in the healthcare portfolio provided ZT Corporate with the strength to diversify its portfolio into new industries, including real estate, sports and entertainment, franchise restaurants, and most recently, the retail automotive industry
