MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. -

On Thursday afternoon, in the Philadelphia-area town of Mount Laurel, N.J.  — where ARI is headquartered — it was 73 degrees, according to The Weather Channel’s website, with temperatures expected to hit 80 on Friday before dipping down into the 60s and below over the weekend.

None of that compares to what Bob Graham has in store next week, though.

The ARI vice president of vehicle remarketing and his wife Cheryl (who has worked at ARI for more than three decades, herself) are set to go on a polar bear expedition in Churchill, Manitoba, part of the Arctic region of Canada.

Conditions there on Thursday? Thirty-two degrees, but it feels more like 18 degrees, according to Weather.com.

Trips like that may be commonplace soon for the Grahams, as both are set to retire on the same day (Jan. 8) after a combined 77 years with the company — Bob Graham has been there 42 years; Cheryl Graham has been there 35.

The pair, which enjoys an adventure, have two more trips slotted for early 2016, both of which were planned before they decided to retire: a ski trip to Park City, Utah, and a trip to Bermuda.

In light of his upcoming retirement, Auto Remarketing asked Graham, whose retirement was announced by Vehicle Remarketing on Sept. 23, what he has enjoyed the most about the industry he was worked in for four decades.

“Without a doubt, I’ve enjoyed the people the most,” he told us Thursday. “The whole remarketing community is a community you can’t beat.”

Graham has been a big part of the community at the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance, where he currently serves as chairman of the board. Graham is also a past-president of IARA. 

And not only has he enjoyed visiting with his peers in the industry at conferences like the NAAA Convention, IARA events, CAR and the National Remarketing Conference, but Graham has also found it rewarding to work with these same people to make the business better — and no doubt it has in the last few decades. 

He started out as a clerk in the operations department at ARI 42 years ago, where one of his duties was to check all of the factory invoices.

“I often say that’s why I wear contacts today,” he said.

It wasn’t long before he transitioned to remarketing. Moving through the ranks and spending the next four decades there, Graham has seen a lot of change on this side of the car business.

From condition reports being filled out by pencil to where there are companies dedicated to handling those electronically and posting online today, it’s innumerable the ways the remarketing business has changed from the advance of the Internet — and, really, even before the Web came along.

“That whole progression for me is the most interesting part of remarketing,” Graham said.

And with those upcoming travel adventures and more to come, it’s likely the Grahams’ retirement won’t lack interest, either.