National

Automall’s Legacy: The Start of an Automobile Empire

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – For most of us that’s driven on Shirley Street, we’ve taken note of the Automall building, but it’s more than what meets the eye.

Published

2 months ago

October 15, 2025

Denielle Miller

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The road to the ultimate giveaway begins right here on Our News. Automall, Our News and Aliv are teaming up to celebrate decades of service and to say thank you to customers in a big way.

One lucky winner will drive out the holiday season in a brand-new 2025 Hyundai Creta, as part of the “Ultimate Giveaway” campaign marking Cable Bahamas’ 30th anniversary and Automall’s 54 years in business.

But for Automall, where did it all begin?

For most of us that’s driven on Shirley Street, we’ve taken note of the Automall building, but it’s more than what meets the eye. There is a history behind these walls that serve as a monument of memories for two brothers, Jeffrey Albury and Lionel Albury, of where their Automall empire began.

Jeffrey Albury – President, Automall
“Automall started in seventy-two, we started out in used cars, and it was at the time I used to go to the auctions, and my brother Fred was the salesperson in Nassau and running the company while I was away.”

And these trips weren’t quick ones. Sometimes he’d be gone for weeks, leaving his 18-year-old brother in charge.

Jeffrey and Freddy, as Lionel is called, admit it wasn’t an easy ride, but their love for the business kept them moving.

Jeffrey Albury – President, Automall
“If I had a good week at the auction, plenty of time, I would come home; if I had a bad week at the auction, I’ll stay until the following week. Then in one year, I would probably spend two hundred and seventy days in the United States going to the auctions.”

Lionel “Frederick” Albury – Vice President, Quality Auto Sales
“As he said back when we started, he would go to the auctions, buy the vehicles. Sometimes for the weekend, I’ll fly to meet him, do what we had to do to dazzle the vehicles up, and I’ll fly back home Sunday night, Monday morning to be on the job Monday to sell vehicles.”

That drive and teamwork set them on the road to something bigger.

Lionel “Frederick” Albury – Vice President, Quality Auto Sales
“In 1983 Hyundai came looking, and Hyundai was out of South Korea. It was not a brand that was well known, but they were a big corporation at the time. I think they were the thirty-second biggest corporation in the world.”

And five decades later, the wheels are still turning.

What started as a small used car lot has grown into multiple showrooms, employing more than 100 people and putting thousands of Bahamians behind the wheel.

Jeffrey Augustus Albury – President, Automall
“You felt good when a person walked in and you make a deal with them and make them happy. And then you get some people come back and thank you and said, ‘we’re very happy with what we’ve got and we’re very happy with the way you handle us.’ That kind of stuff, and that’s what got into me, and I feel like it got into Freddy, and over the years it gets deeper.”

Lionel “Frederick” Albury – Vice President, Quality Auto Sales
“I had a vision to see that it was going to grow, and we could not stay as a little used car place there. We would someday get to something like this. Didn’t think it would get this big, but it did.”