About Ray Citte RV in Roy, UT
A DEALERSHIP BUILT FROM HARD WORK AND DEDICATION
To sum up its 70+ years of business, Ray Citte RV needs just three, simple words- change, growth and success. By recognizing the needs of the community and its customers, the dealership has continued to adapt and grow to become one of the largest RV dealerships in Utah. Ray Citte RV is the oldest dealership in Utah and the second oldest dealership in the United States.
Raised with a strong work ethic, founder Ray Citte came to Utah from California. He took a job at the Defense Depot of Ogden, but quickly realized that no matter how hard each person worked, they were all paid the same. With the goal of getting ahead, Ray went to work for Hunter Ford, the local Ford dealership at the time. It was here, that a very long and successful career in the automotive sales industry began.
“During the time my father worked at Hunter Ford, car sales were hard to come by. Instead of waiting for customers to come to him, my father would actually go out on the street and go door to door to find out what cars customers wanted,” said Neil Citte, owner of Ray Citte RV. In 1946, Ray opened his first dealership located on Washington Boulevard, Ogden, Utah. Ray Citte specialized in quality, used automobiles. His dealership quickly grew, and soon Ray had a total of three locations in the Ogden area. The two additional dealerships were located at 1661 Washington and where RC Willey’s on Riverdale Road stands today. “Each lot offered cars in a specific price range. One featured cars for $299 and under, one for $599 and under and one for $899 and under,” said Neil.
In the mid 1960’s Ray Citte became the local dealership for the new car lines Renault, Peugeot and Triumph. And for a short time, the dealership offered Mercedes and Toyota. When the opportunity was presented to add the American Motors line, a new location was built at 4175 Riverdale Road, Ray Citte sold new and used cars and trailers from this location for over 20 years.
In the mid-70’s Ray recognized the growing interest in recreational vehicles. The dealership started selling Fleetwood made Tioga and Monaco Class C motor homes in. “I remember the plane ride back from a show with my father. We had purchased seven or eight trailers to put on the lot and I thought we had way over bought,” said Neil. Ray Citte RV now has over 250 trailers and motorhomes on their lot.
Although the dealership found success with its early RV sales, they decided to back off from selling recreational vehicles during the gas crunch of the 70’s. In 1981, Ray Citte once again added trailers and motorhomes to its inventory. Over the years, RV sales have continued to grow. In 2000, Ray Citte moved its present location, to the end of Riverdale Road at 1677 West.
“For years we had been looking for the right opportunity to sell our property,” said Neil. “We had always wanted a freeway location, and when Lowe’s chose our site for its Ogden store, we went looking for a new home.” At its present location, Ray Citte RV has eight fully developed acres. The dealership made a decision to focus solely on RV sales and now offers one of the largest selections of tent trailers, travel trailers, fifth wheels and motor homes in Utah.
Working alongside his son, Ray continued to work every day and served as vice president till his passing at age 96 in March of 2008. His example of hard work and dedication and his willingness to adapt and change as his customers changed were the key reasons why Ray Citte was successful.
Today, Ray Citte RV honors those same values. We are dedicated to continued growth and success, long into the future.