The Fred Beans Automotive Group is marking 50 years in business this year and recently made an effort to celebrate with its 2,000+ person team. Vice President Beth Beans Gilbert led pop-up ice cream parties across the automotive group’s footprint, spending 10 days on the road and making 27 different stops to involve more than 55 Fred Beans operations, including dealerships, service and collision centers, and the Parts Distribution Center.
“Taking our 50th anniversary celebration on the road was important to me, my father and our entire leadership team, because our people have driven our success over the last 50 years,” said Beans Gilbert. “At each stop, I saw firsthand a commitment to our Better at Beans brand, and I felt it through each warm welcome. Our Fred Beans team showcases a genuine commitment to our family values, ensuring that connecting with and caring about others is at the center of everything we do.”
Additional members of Fred Beans' family also took the opportunity to participate in some of the stops, including two of his grandchildren; his daughter Jennifer Beans Keiser, who is president of the Autorent operation; and his son-in-law Chris Gilbert, who is chief operating officer of Fred Beans Automotive Group.
Each event included ice cream provided by two other family businesses, Mister Softee and Mr. Frosty, and 50th anniversary giveaways with commemorative t-shirts, cookies, and cans of beans. Branded cans of beans were incorporated into some of the earliest marketing efforts of Fred Beans when he ventured into operating dealerships under his name. The newest label adds to the nostalgia surrounding Fred Beans Automotive Group’s ongoing 50th Anniversary celebration.
Another throwback is the 1975 Ford Bronco that represents the year Beans opened his first dealership in Doylestown. Fully restored and painted in a signature Beans blue, the Beans Bronco was a centerpiece of the anniversary parties and drew crowds posing for photographs with it.
“As we continue commemorating 50 years in business, we look forward to involving even more of our people, from team members to community organizations and, of course, our customers,” added Beans Gilbert. “When we were celebrating at Fred Beans Ford Washington, we met a customer who was purchasing his 50th truck at that dealership. It’s clear that our customers’ loyalty is yet another reason we have been successful, and it was fun to celebrate one of our customers making history right alongside us.”
See additional photos from the tour in this slideshow.