By Sue Dickens
Toronto, Ontario — February 27, 2019 — The Shaw family has been involved in the automobile business since the 1940s when Ken Shaw Sr. opened a service repair shop in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland. After successfully repairing motor vehicles and serving his customers, Ken Sr. emigrated to Canada in 1954 and began his new life in Toronto.
On his arrival, Ken Sr. worked at a Sunoco gas station on Spadina Avenue as a licensed mechanic. In 1958, he acquired his own Sunoco gas station named, Ken Shaw Sunoco, on Dundas Street West near Scarlett Road.
In 1963, Ken Shaw Sr. made the decision to start selling cars and that is when Ken Shaw Motors was born. He took on the Renault brand and for the first-time-ever started selling new vehicles to the public. This required him to move to a new location at 4005 Dundas Street West, just down the road from his Sunoco station.
His success and the way he looked after customers at that time, caught the eye of a growing car company that was also fairly new to Canada— Toyota. Toyota soon approached Ken Shaw Sr. and together, they agreed Ken Shaw Motors would take on the Toyota franchise.
On December 3, 1968, Ken Shaw Toyota opened its doors to the public. It wasn’t long before record sales were happening, and Toyota began to quickly grow in Canada. In 1971, Ken Shaw Sr. acquired Kingsway Collision, a body shop next door to Ken Shaw Motors. With this addition, the dealership was able to become a full-service operation, offering sales, service, parts and body repairs to their clients.
In July 1971, Ken Jr. joined his father in the growing business, followed by his brother Paul in June 1977. The two sons quickly went to work in the service side of the operation, becoming licensed technicians before moving into other departments of the business.
Since the mid-1980s, Ken Jr. has been managing the service operations of the business while Paul manages the sales side. In 1989, a golden opportunity came along when Toyota chose Ken Shaw Motors as the first of 22 selected dealers to receive Lexus franchises.
These 22 were carefully chosen out of 240 Toyota dealerships across Canada. The awarding of the Lexus franchise, in addition to the growing Toyota business, required Ken Shaw Motors to move to a much larger facility. A five-acre site at its current location, 2336 St. Clair was acquired, and major renovations began taking place between 1989 and 1990.
The new 67,000 sq. ft. location opened for business on March 23, 1990, and the grand opening for the Lexus franchise followed a few months later. Ken Shaw Motors was proudly renamed Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota. Growth continued and in the mid-1990s, a separate property across the road from Ken Shaw Lexus Toyota was purchased for the Toyota used car department.
In 2002, Ken Jr.’s son, Kenny, joined the family business and followed the same path as his father, uncle Paul and grandfather by initially working in the service department and becoming a licensed technician. After working for a number of years in service and parts, Kenny moved into Toyota sales and currently works in the Toyota and Lexus fixed operations.
Sadly, in October 2003, Ken Shaw Sr. passed away, leaving the dealership in the hands of his two sons, Ken Jr. and Paul. In 2007, Ken Jr.’s daughter, Lisa Shaw, joined the family business and after working in many departments like her brother Kenny, father, uncle and grandfather, she moved into the collision centre.
The Toyota and Lexus business continued to grow and prosper, and in April 2006, a three-acre property directly north of the dealership was acquired, allowing for dealership growth and additional new vehicle inventory. In 2015, Ken Jr. and Paul started construction to renovate and expand the current facilities. This project, which saw the opening of Ken Shaw Toyota on the west side of the 10-acre property and Ken Shaw Lexus on the east, was completed in 2018, just in time for the 60th anniversary of Ken Shaw Motors.
