Following World War I, Walter Sweeney Sr. became Cincinnati's first licensed used car dealer, operating several lots, most notably on Gilbert Ave. near Peebles corner. For the next two decades he established himself as one of the city's premier used car dealers.Following a professional football career with the Chicago Bears, Jake Sweeney (Walter Sweeney's eldest son) returned to Cincinnati to begin building his own automotive career, opening up his own used car lot near the corner of Reading Rd. and William Howard Taft Rd. As his used car business grew, Jake then moved to another location on the corner of 12th and Reading Rd. in downtown Cincinnati.As Jake's solid reputation as a used car dealer developed, his good business sense led him to open another used car lot in 1955, as the industry spread to the Moving further North on Vine Street in 1960, Jake Sweeney Used Cars grew once again with the opening of a third used car location on the corner on Vine and Galbraith. In 1961, Jake purchased Andy Schain Pontiac on Court Street in downtown Cincinnati and in 1962 moved the dealership to the corner of Vine and Galbraith. That same year Jake purchased property on Vine Street in Carthage for a body shop and used car facility. In 1964 Jake established Jake Sweeney Auto Leasing also on the body shop property in Carthage. By 1969, as the Pontiac business grew, Jake Sweeney Pontiac was recognized as the largest new car dealer in the state of Ohio, selling around 1900 new Pontiacs a year, beating all other domestic and import dealers.1971 brought about another franchise purchase opportunity and in March of that year, Jake purchased Tri County Chevrolet. At the time, General Motors would not allow one person to own two GM franchises so Jake sold the Pontiac dealership on Vine and Galbraith and devoted his efforts to this newly expanding area of Cincinnati known as Tri County. After a few years as a junior high school teacher, Jake Sweeney Jr. decided to devote his full time to the family business. In 1971 he was asked to serve as an assistant used car manager working with his uncle, Walt Sweeney Jr. 1973 brought about another franchise purchase as Jake joined forces with his current sale manager developing the Chrysler dealership next door to Chevrolet as Hunt-Sweeney Chrysler Plymouth.In 1975 Jake opened up a Fiat /Lancia dealership on the Vine & Galbraith property eventually selling that and creating Jake Sweeney Imports featuring BMW and Mazda in 1976. The following year, Jake Sweeeney Jr. was promoted to general manager of Jake Sweeney Imports.The end of the 70's brought about other changes to the Jake Sweeney family with a short-lived American Motors franchise and then the total ownership of Jake Sweeney Chrysler in Tri county. It was during this time that Lee Iacocca transformed the Chrysler Corporation into a viable operation.In late 1987 a new era began when the import franchises of BMW and Mazda were moved to the Tri County location. During this same year Jake Sweeney Sr. decided to retire, selling his company to his two sons, Jake Sweeney Jr. and Greg Sweeney. In 1988, ground was broken in Florence Kentucky, as the company expanded across the river with a new Hyundai franchise. Sales for Hyundai continued to decline during the next year forcing the family to look to other opportunities for the Florence location. Isuzu, Jeep and Volkswagen franchises were added to the line-up of cars being sold at our Florence location.General Motors was developing a new automotive concept called Saturn. In 1989 Jake Sweeney Automotive was awarded and approved for one Saturn location in Tri County and another one in Florence, Kentucky.This new decade began with the opening of Saturn of Tri County. The early years of the 90's also saw the termination and sale of the Isuzu, Jeep, Volkswagen and Hyundai franchises in Florence so that all emphasis could turn to the success of the new Saturn venture there. In 1995, a Pontiac franchise in Florence was purchased from the Mike Dever Group further growing our footprint in Florence. On July 28th, 1996, the patriarch of Jake Sweeney family, Jake Sweeney Sr., passed away.The new year of 2000 saw the opening of our third Saturn store, Saturn of Western Hills. 2001 brought about the move of Jake Sweeney BMW to a new showroom in Tri County and also the purchase of Kia from the DeCastro group for the Florence location. In 2007, Jake Jr. bought property on the corner of Kemper road adjacent to the new BMW center to develop a separate BMW certified used car showroom. Further growth and development took place in 2010 when a new body shop was transformed on the former Walker Pontiac property purchased on Northland Blvd. around the corner from our Tri County showrooms. Besides the new body shop, this property also became the headquarters for sister companies, 722 Redemption Services, Prizm Finance and Best Lease by Jake Sweeney. 2010 also saw the General Motors bankruptcy to cause the closing of Saturn stores. A decision was made to then move our Mazda franchise into the Saturn of Tri County showroom. The following year, Mazda of Western Hills opened to replace Saturn of Western Hills. A new Fiat franchise opened in 2012 at the Florence location and further expansion and growth took place in 2013 with the land purchase of the former Delhi Garden center on the corner of Northland Blvd. and Kemper Rd. This additional space allowed for a BMW showroom enlargement and remodel during 1917 along with plans for a new future Mazda showroom . During this same time we were able to add Alfa Romeo to our growing Fiat business in Florence. In 2018 Mitsubishi in Tri County was added to the Jake Sweeney Automotive family along with a new body shop in Florence. October 2019 saw the opening of our new Mazda retail evolution showroom, and the expansion of Fiat/Alfa Romeo to our Tri County location. Most recently, in January 2020, our growth as an automotive family included the purchase of Bill DeLord Buick/GMC/Cadillac in Lebanon Ohio.