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The Deal: SHIRLIE SLACK

Shirlie Slack has been a local car dealer for more than 40 years

Date published: 11/19/2008

DESCRIBE YOUR BUSINESS: A 40-year-old family business trying to make a difference by providing people with an easy, pleasant car-buying experience in the Fredericksburg area

EDUCATION: Canadian schools and Melrose High School in Massachusetts

FAMILY: My late husband, Stan, and I had four children. Our oldest son, Rick, died in 1992. My three surviving children are Laurie, Patty and Kirk, each of whom manages a different aspect of the business. I have six grandchildren.

CAREER HISTORY: Stan and I started in the car business working part time for a wholesaler in Fairfax County. Stan worked in accounting; I was "girl Friday" and eventually caught the bug and started buying a couple of cars a week at the local auto auction. In 1968, we started our own wholesale car business on U.S. 1 in Stafford County. In the early 1980s, we started selling retail in Fredericksburg. In 1993, we opened Shirlie Slack Auto Center on U.S. 1. This summer, that changed over to Shirlie Slack Mitsubishi. We now sell new and pre-owned cars.

FIRST JOB: In the accounting department of First National Bank of Boston

WHERE DID YOU GROW UP? Nova Scotia, Canada

HOW DID YOU END UP OWNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS? Auto auction experience and wholesaling cars led me to become a licensed dealer in Virginia.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB NOW? Adding our new Mitsubishi franchise to our successful pre-owned automobile business

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU? Love of life; faith; happy customers

WHAT IS THE KEY TO RUNNING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS? Honesty, integrity, hard work

WHAT'S THE BEST THING ABOUT THE BUSINESS CLIMATE HERE? Our clients. We're located in a small enough area to develop personal relationships with them.

WHAT'S THE WORST? The area is growing so rapidly that we may lose the ability to develop personal relationships with our clients.

To nominate a business owner for The Deal, e-mail: DealMaker@freelancestar.com Provide a description of the business, how long it's operated, its location, contact information, Web site and why the owner should be featured. The Free Lance-Star's coverage of area businesses in The Deal does not mean that the newspaper is endorsing any particular business.

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Date published: 11/19/2008