The Story Behind Our Name: Columbia Chevrolet

Columbia's dealership heritage dates back to 1938 when George J. Joseph was awarded an Oldsmobile franchise from General Motors. George purchased the land at the corner of 5th and Sycamore streets in downtown Cincinnati. Back then, Columbia Parkway would lead you down 5th Street and right to the corner of 5th and Sycamore and thus a natural name for the Oldsmobile dealership was Columbia Oldsmobile. For over forty years you could always find a few members of the Joseph family at Columbia Oldsmobile taking care of customers.

With such a central location downtown, Columbia was always hopping with service and sales. On any given day, politicians, members of the Reds or Bengals, bankers, business people and friends would stop by to check out the new Cars or just say hello. Columbia began as a very welcoming place, a tradition that still continues today. For many decades Columbia was the largest volume Oldsmobile dealer in the state of Ohio as well as a top dealer nationally. Columbia Oldsmobile remained as a bustling auto dealership hub downtown until 1980.

Fast forward to 2005, when the Joseph family decided to build a brand new Chevrolet store on Montgomery Road. General Motors had retired the Oldsmobile brand in the early 2000's and for about 5 years the name Columbia was not associated with a General Motors brand. While the new Chevrolet store was being built, the Joseph Family gathered for a meeting to choose the name. As soon as Ron Joseph Sr. suggested "Columbia", they all agreed the name was a perfect fit, rich with decades of brand equity in Cincinnati.

We at Columbia Chevrolet are proud of our name, heritage, and decades of taking care of customers.