About

We Had An Idea. Then it Grew and Grew.

Ours is a story with no end. New chapters are written each year as we bring you the best in print, online and in person.

  • 1981-1990

    First as an employee and then under contract, Ron Smith launches Used Car Dealer, a monthly magazine owned by the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association. UCD focuses on the business dealings of NIADA members. Ron handles UCD until NIADA takes it in house.

  • 1982

    Ron, who has always had an entrepreneurial spirit, opens his own public relations agency, Smith & Associates. The agency, now S&A Communications, remains vital today as the longest continuously operating PR firm in North Carolina.

  • 1991

    Ron establishes Cherokee Publishing Company (later Cherokee Media Group) to publish his own bi-monthly magazine, Used Car Merchandising, about the used car operations of franchise dealers. UCM is the first national, non-association publication in the industry.

  • 1993

    Used Car Merchandising becomes Auto Remarketing, a title that is more industry inclusive. The publication moves from bi-monthly to monthly.

  • 1996

    Bill Zadeits joins the company as an advertising sales account executive. He is now President and Group Publisher of Cherokee Media Group and an owner/principle of the company.

  • 1997

    Auto Remarketing goes from monthly to semi-monthly and changes format from traditional magazine size to tabloid size.

  • 1998

    The company launches its first website, AutoRemarketing.com.

  • 1999

    Auto Remarketing Today, the country’s first email newsletter about the used car industry, launches. Other newsletters are added in subsequent years.

    The first meeting of industry leaders, attended by about 75 people, is held in Scottsdale, AZ.

  • 2000 – 2001

    The company holds a series of topic-specific workshops, each with 50-100 attendees.

  • 2002

    Following the 9/11 attacks, many businesses cancel meetings. Cherokee Media Group, however, schedules a big conference for February in Las Vegas. More than 400 people attend what is billed as the National Remarketing Conference.

  • 2003

    Chuck Norman joins the company as an account executive in the public relations division. He is now an owner/principle.

    Cherokee Media Group launches Cary Magazine, a city/regional magazine that expands the company’s reach outside of the auto remarketing industry.

  • 2004

    Cherokee Media Group expands to host the Auto Remarketing Canada Conference in Toronto.

  • 2005

    While many industry conferences are held in February and March, the National Remarketing Conference distinguishes itself by moving to November and serving as a year-in-review and planning conference.

  • 2008 – 2009

    Recognizing that the used car industry also involves other industries, the company launches SubPrime Auto Finance News and Buy-Here-Pay-Here Report.

  • 2014

    As other conferences are added, the National Remarketing Conference is rebranded as Used Car Week.

  • 2017

    Ron retires from day-to-day operations but remains active with the company. He is honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Auto Remarketing at Used Car Week.

  • 2019

    The company launches a second city/regional magazine, Main & Broad.