Bob LaRiche is selling his LaRiche Toyota-Subaru dealership.

Bob says they’ve been a Toyota dealer for 33 years and a Subaru dealer for 39 years at the corner of Tiffin Avenue and Plaza Street and his dad started there with a Volkswagen store in the mid 60s.

“So this corner has been a LaRiche corner for many, many years…pretty cool.”

Bob says he and his wife, Tiare, decided it was time to sell the dealership and retire.

“You always say, hey what are we gonna do someday, or let’s do this someday — well, my wife and I decided, it is someday now.”

Bob says, while they plan to spend more time on Lake Erie they will remain active in the community with volunteering projects.

“That’s been our saying, proudly invest in this community and my wife and I aren’t going to stop that by any means.”

He says they also have grandkids here that they plan on spending more time with.

Bob said, as exciting a time as this is, it’s also very bittersweet to see the LaRiche name come down after so many years.

The new owners will be the Great Lakes Auto Group of Akron.

Bob said the new owners will be retaining all the current employees and for customers it will be a seamless transition as it will remain a Toyota-Subaru dealership.

Bob said he thinks the new owners will really take the dealership to the next level with more inventory and a revamped service department.

Bob also said he’s excited to hear that the new owners will continue a lot of the charitable events that they’ve done over the years.

He says there will be a flurry of activity on Tuesday, June 1st as Great Lakes Auto Group takes over on that day.

Bob said he wants to thank the community for being loyal customers for so many years with repeat customers buying several cars from them over the years.

“That means we’re doing something right as a family and that makes us feel really good as a family.”

Bob pointed out that his brother John, who owns the Chevrolet-Cadillac store on East Main Cross isn’t going anywhere and that his store will keep “rockin’ and rollin” in downtown Findlay.

Bob said the greatest thing about his 35 years in the business is that it brought him together with his wife.

“That’s how I met my wife, I sold her a car 30 years ago, she came in and bought a car when I was selling cars for my brother John at the Chevy store and that’s how we met.”

The couple will be celebrating their 30th anniversary this year.