Being an Irish guy from Long Island who became a Jersey transplant seven years ago, it's been a bit of an adjustment period for me. You know, like comprehending people passing you on the street saying "hello" and allowing you to merge onto a road without unpleasant hand gestures being exchanged. Well, it's nice knowing someone at work who's shared a similar experience to mine. Douglas Infiniti Sales Consultant Ray Pierce moved out to New Jersey seven years ago. He left behind a successful career at Kings Infiniti in Brooklyn to join the Douglas Infiniti team. When I asked Ray about why he came to Douglas Infiniti, his answer wasn't surprising to me. "I used to occasionally do swaps with Douglas Infiniti when I was at Kings Infiniti. The entire operation here at Douglas Auto Group is impressive. Specifically their interpersonal communication. From customers to colleagues all the way to competitors, they were always first-class all the way."

Ray Pierce's lifelong journey to Douglas Infiniti is an interesting one. An Irish Catholic kid out of Brooklyn, he accepted a Fine Arts scholarship out of high school and attended Utah State. Upon arriving on campus and always having been a good athlete, the football coach recruited him to play Tight End on the football team. Unfortunately his football career had a short lifespan. The Fine Arts Program that gave him the full scholarship to attend Utah State was concerned he would get injured and not be able to participate in the acting and dancing of the Fine Art curriculum. Being an avid hiker and skier, Ray thoroughly enjoyed the rustic landscape of the Mountain West. However, with Utah being a predominantly Mormon state, he occasionally felt out of sorts following his Catholic roots out there. "When I went to Church on Sundays, the only other Catholics at Mass were of American Indian descent."

After college, Ray considered taking his acting talent to Broadway. However, as real life expenses started to take their toll, he soon had to go in another direction. He spent many years as a VP at Irving Trust Company on Wall St. Scratching his entrepreneurial spirit, Ray left Irving Trust after a long and distinguished career there to open up his own running store in Brooklyn called Ray's Finish Line. While the store saw a 14 year run of great success, eventually the big box stores forced him out of business. For the past 23 years, Ray has been with the Infiniti brand as a Sales Consultant and Douglas Infiniti is proud to call him our own. You can set your watch to what you see from Ray. He always comes to Douglas Infiniti in a quiet and unassuming nature. Everyone he comes across from customers to colleagues gets treated in the same polite, respectful and courteous manner. In a nutshell, Ray is the ultimate professional. Says Ray, "In 1976 I bought a new Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme in Brooklyn. My wife and I picked the car up at night. When we pulled out of the lot and drove down the road, the lights were off and I didn't even know how to turn on the lights. All my salesperson did was hand me the keys and sent me on my way. When people come to Douglas Infiniti and work with me, I know what it's like to be treated wrong so I always go the extra effort to treat customers the way I would want to be treated."

So what better car buying experience is out there than to have a Sales Consultant who is experienced, cultured, educated, a successful business owner and treats you with the utmost respect, class and dignity? It's hard not to like Ray.