Nicholas Varela, 37, took over as dealer principal of All Star CDJR in Muskogee in April 2024, when the store was losing $1 million a year, and he took it to net profitability.
He grew up in the car business, working around his family’s dealership from age 5. He became general manager of All Star Ford in Canton, Texas, in 2012 and an owner of All Star Ford Kilgore in 2017. Today he is a partner in five stores across Texas and Oklahoma and dealer principal of two, from his base in Palestine, Texas, with about 200 people on his team.
In Muskogee he rebuilt the management team, put disciplined budgets and processes in place across sales, service and parts, and reset the store’s advertising. He also sourced, negotiated and structured a buy-sell agreement on another dealership that would expand the group to seven stores.
He has served on the Ford MDA Board and the Ford Dealer Advertising Fund for the Dallas Region, and he is active in NAMAD. His stores donated $50,000 toward a new NICU unit at the local hospital.
“Building that next generation of dealership leaders is the part of the job I’m proudest of.”
