John Bommarito was born on April 25, 1965, and grew up in Missouri. His father was Frank Bommarito who was the owner of the Bommarito Automotive Group—an automobile business based in Missouri. At a young age, John’s family taught him the importance of a strong and continuous work ethic.
The Bommarito Automotive Group was a family business, and it wasn’t long until John found himself working there. In fact, his work began at the young age of 12. There was no special treatment for John; he had to work his way up through the ranks just like any other employee.
At 12, he found himself washing and parking cars. Soon, at 15, he started working in the service and parts department so that he could learn the “backbone” of the family business.
Ever the hard worker, he continued to work at the Bommarito Automotive Group throughout High School. During the day, he was a High School student, and in the evenings—an employee.
Despite what some may think, John’s grades never suffered. In fact, he graduated High School in the top two percent of his class! With many scholarships, he decided to go to Eckerd College in Florida.
Despite what some may think, his major was in Psychology and the Premedical field. He studied hard throughout his time in college and graduated with Honors. He was, then, accepted into Stanford University Medical School.
However, he felt a pull back to the automotive business and decided to take a year off from his studies. So, he started selling new Mazdas. As seems to be a pattern in John’s life, he fully committed to whatever he was doing and worked his way to the top.
His success record in the automotive business started to take off. He was soon promoted to Finance Manager and then Sales Manager. Around the same time, the Bommarito Automotive Group announced a subsidiary called, “Bommarito Cellular.”
John transferred to Bommarito Cellular as the General Manager. Under John’s leadership, Bommarito Cellular saw record-breaking sales every year. At the time, cellular phones were on the rise and John took advantage of that by creating the “Buy a Car Get a Phone Program” and introduced it to over 300 dealers around the country!
John’s reputation throughout the automotive world did not go unnoticed and he was soon approached, in 1992 by General Motors. General Motors asked John to purchase an Oldsmobile-Cadillac store that was going under and was only selling 25 units a month.
Seeing the potential for the store, John agreed and purchased the store. Today, that store is selling 280 units a month!
John, was quickly promoted to President of the Group, and continued to buy more dealerships and bring in new car brands to the Bommarito Automotive Group’s dealership portfolio.
He soon branched out to the racing world and started the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. In the Indycar Series. He also started two racing teams – a NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series team and a Bommarito Chevrolet Xfinity team, with driver and partner Jordan Anderson.
John went on to win many awards for his excellence in business and was also appointed to be one of the Directors of the St. Louis Sports Commission. Though there is much more to be said, John’s tremendous success story was built on the values his family instilled in him at a young age.
