According to a report from the Standard-Examiner, Ray Citte’s name has been on at least one vehicle dealer’s sign in the Ogden, Utah, area since 1946.
On Wednesday, May 13, employees of Ray Citte RV, members of the Ogden-Weber Chamber of Commerce and local officials took time to celebrate 80 years of a business that has survived evolution, dealership moves, oil crises and recessions while remaining firmly in the hands of the Citte family with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Addressing a large crowd, the late Ray Citte’s son Neil Citte said that selling RVs was a natural for his father.
“My dad was an outdoorsman — he liked to take the trailer and go up into the mountains and he liked to hunt,” Neil Citte said. “So when he had an opportunity to sell motorhomes and possibly get in the trailer business, he jumped into it feet-first.”
He told the Standard-Examiner that his father arrived in the Ogden area in 1942. Having originally worked at Defense Depot Ogden, Ray Citte eventually started a used car lot in Ogden, at one point expanding to up to three locations.
During the ribbon cutting, Trent Citte, grandson of Ray and current general manager of Ray Citte RV, said the business is about much more than just selling recreation vehicles.
“This dealership has been part of many families’ vacations, retirements, hunting trips, camping traditions and memories people keep for a lifetime,” he said. “I’m grateful for my grandfather and my father building something worth continuing.”
Following the ceremony, Trent Citte told the Standard-Examiner that RVs actually factored into the business well before transitioning to selling them full-time.
“When my grandpa started the business, right off the get-go, his dad was in the back of the dealership and he would build motorhomes,” Trent Citte said. “He built them out of old semitrucks, would put a box on the back of them and turn them into RVs. Then in the late ’60s, we started taking on trailers.”
Click here for the full report from the Standard-Examiner.
