While there have been many ups and downs, the Lundeen family has owned an Annandale business for 99 years. For the last 96 years, the Lundeens have been a Ford dealership.
On Monday, Aug. 1, the Annandale History Club heard a presentation by Vince Lundeen about the history of one of Annandale’s oldest businesses, Lundeen Ford.
Great-great grandfather
Lundeen’s great-great grandfather came to the Annandale area in the 1870s from Sweden. He settled on a farm on the south shore of Lake Henry. At the time, the family name was Johnson.
"My great-great grandfather thought there were just way too many Johnsons, so he changed the name to Lundeen," Vince said.
John the bicycle maker
Vince’s great-grandfather, John Lundeen, started his own farm on the north side of Lake Henry.
"John was a true entrepreneur and opportunist," Lundeen said. "He was a very good mechanic and could fix or tinker with just about any piece of machinery."
John acquired a one-cylinder gas engine, which he mounted on skids with a sawmill, and went from farm to farm to saw wood during the winter. He would sometimes be gone for days at a time.
Seeing that bicycles were popular, John built and sold bicycles that he called the Granite Lake Special.
"We have one of the few Granite Lake Specials known to exist at the dealership," Vince said.
John bought his first car, a Model T, in 1910 and soon was selling and repairing cars at the farm.
Business moves to town
In 1917 John moved his car repair business to Annandale, to the northeast corner of Highway 55 and Oak Ave. (Main Street) in what was then the Cofield Building and is now Annandale Dental Clinic. Vince’s grandfather Carl, who had been working in Minneapolis as an auto mechanic, went into business with his father and the business was then called John Lundeen and Son.
In 1919, Vince’s great-uncle Joe returned from World War I and bought out John’s share of the business. Great-uncles Walter and Henry later joined the business, and John went back to the farm. The business became Lundeen Brothers.
1920 – Ford franchise
In 1920 Lundeen Brothers obtained a franchise from Ford and sold Model Ts and tractors.
In 1928 Ford came out with the Model A. The Lundeens were very proud of this new and improved Ford and were excited for its potential.
Dan Figge owned the Chevrolet dealership at this time, and there existed a natural rivalry between the two businesses.
"Not that they were enemies or anything," Vince said. "The two were just good competitors."
A race was set up between the Ford and Chevrolet dealership. The race would be from Annandale to Maple Lake and back.
"According to reports of the time, my grandfather, driving a Model A, met Figge a quarter of a mile this side of Maple Lake on his return to Annandale," Vince said. "I think you could say we won the race."
The Great Depression
While the Model A sold quite well after it was introduced, the stock market crash of 1929 followed by the Great Depression caused car sales to drop to almost nothing.
"Ford ran a contest in 1931 to see which dealership would sell the most cars and trucks," Vince said. "To illustrate how bad car sales were, we sold just one truck and won the contest."
Even though times were tough, the Lundeens had the foresight to build a service station on the space now occupied by Lillian’s.
World War II
Once World War II started for the U.S. in 1941 the production of cars, trucks and tractors pretty much stopped. Car factories were need to make airplanes and tanks to support the war effort.
The Lundeens managed to survive during this time by repairing cars and selling gas and oil at the filling station, but it wasn’t possible for all the Lundeens to make a living in the business at this time.
Lundeen’s grandfather Carl went to Minneapolis to work at an ammunition plant. Because of gas rationing, Carl was not able to commute back and forth from Annandale.
Vince’s father, Kermit, was a student at the University of Minnesota at the time. Because Carl could not travel back and forth to Annandale, he slept nights in Kermit’s dorm room.
"My dad got quite a ribbing about being the only student rooming with his father," Lundeen said.
After World War II
In the late ’40s and early ’50s, summer homes started to be built in the Annandale area. Seeing an opportunity, the Lundeen brothers started selling boats and motors.
While farm machinery sold well right after the war, it started to decline in the early ’50s, and soon the Lundeen Brothers were not selling farm machinery anymore.
With farm machinery on the decline, the boat and motor business started to grow and the Lundeens pursued it. They sold Crestline and Larson boats, Johnson motors, snowmobiles and other sporting equipment, including guns.
"After the war, the four brothers each did their own thing for the business," Vince said. "Carl sold cars and boats, Joe was the parts man, Walter sold farm machinery and Henry managed the filling station.
"My grandfather Carl loved guns and insisted on carrying them. Kermit always wanted to get rid of them but Carl said no. It wasn’t long after Carl died that the guns were gone."
Kermit joins the business
In 1954 Vince’s father Kermit was operating an accounting business in Buffalo and Annandale. Kermit sold his business to Arnie Gruys and answered his father’s request for him to join the business.
Vince joined Lundeen Ford in 1972. Vince is the fourth generation of Lundeens in the business.
Strictly cars in 1977
In 1977 Lundeen Ford moved to its present location on Highway 55 east of Annandale.
"There just was not enough room for us to display all the new and used cars and trucks," Vince said.
The Lundeens decided to stay with just the car and truck business. They sold the boat business to Frank Ledwein, who built Annandale Marine east of town where Backyard Reflections is now located.
Tough times in the ’80s
The early 1980s saw another tough time for the Lundeens. Interest rates were sky high, and cars and trucks were not selling.
The Lundeens owned the land between Dairy Queen all the way out to their present location. They had to put in a service road and put down water and utilities up to their location. During this tough time they had not sold a single lot since their building was built.
"We came very close to going out of business," Vince said. "My father, Kermit had even written a letter of resignation to Ford. Luckily he did not mail the letter the same day."
The Lundeen business was saved when Bob Shaddock and Jerry Paulson, who owned the Chevrolet dealership in Annandale, decided to locate next to Lundeens.
"What better place to locate than right next to the Ford dealership?" Vince said. "I came away knowing how bad things can really get."
In 2017 the Lundeens will celebrate 100 years in business, going back to 1917 when John Lundeen moved to Annandale and started the business with Joe. In 2020, they celebrate 100 years as a Ford dealership in Annandale.
■ For more information on the history of Lundeen Ford and Kermit Lundeen’s 1993 presentation to The Annandale History Club, go to: www.annandaleonline.com/History/HistoryClub/Programs/KLundeen-LundeenFord-1993.htm.
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