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There's strength in numbers at Jim Reed Chevrolet Co., one of Nashville's oldest businesses.
"The three of us will talk and make decisions together," says Jim Reed III, chairman of the company he runs with his sons, Jim IV and John. "It's good to have three heads thinking about it."
If they reach an impasse, they turn to their tie breaker, first cousin Brad Reed, a senior partner at law firm Bass Berry & Sims who sits on the Jim Reed Chevrolet board and owns a share of stock.
The auto dealership was launched at the beginning of the 20th century with four cars offered for sale by Murfreesboro native Jim Reed Jr. The dealership opened on Broadway's 1200 block around 1915. Its early makes and models included Pierce Arrows, Erskins, Studebakers and Chevrolets, which became the exclusive make sold at the dealership during the 1930s. Jim Reed Jr.'s brothers, Emmit and Edwin, helped him in the business.
The 1940s and World War II were times of poor automobile sales. Few civilian cars were being built, so the showroom became a space for auto parts. Jim Reed III, Jim...