Al Maroone, part of AutoNation's inception, dies at 98

Al Maroone, the son of Lebanese immigrants who founded a dealership group that became a major building block of megaretailer AutoNation Inc., died last week at his Florida home. He was 98.

Maroone, who grew up in a poor section of Buffalo, N.Y., with six siblings, purchased a small Ford dealership in nearby Middleport in 1955, pooling money borrowed from his father's life savings, his sister's pension and his father-in-law's remortgage. He expanded Maroone Automotive Group in Buffalo and into South Florida.

By 1997, the group operated seven stores generating $700 million in annual revenue, and Maroone was running it with his son, Mike, when Florida businessman Wayne Huizenga came calling. Huizenga, who built Waste Management and Blockbuster Video into behemoths by acquiring mom-and-pop businesses, was applying his strategy to auto retailing.

Maroone Automotive became part of Republic Industries, AutoNation's predecessor, in a $200 million stock deal. Mike Maroone eventually became the longtime COO of AutoNation, which grew into the largest dealership group in the country. Mike Maroone told Automotive News that his dad agreed to the deal to give his son a chance to help build a national platform.

After the sale, Al Maroone, at 74, stepped away from the business. His charity work included supporting the Cleveland Clinic expansion in South Florida, and he became part owner of the National Hockey League's Florida Panthers.

In 2013, AutoNation replaced the Maroone name on the South Florida stores as part of national branding. Al Maroone told the Sun-Sentinel then, "I've had my name on the building for just short of 60 years. I've had my day in the sun."

Mike Maroone said his father worked to cast light on others. "He took great pride in the number of people that were developed in his organization that become dealers, general managers and department managers," Maroone said. "His long-term view was that people make the difference and everyone wants to be successful. It's up to us to show them how to do it."