Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge GM and My dealership

For people that dont know I run a Chevy Store in Stow Ohio
We have had our ups and downs but for the most part we have done a great job. Out of the 10 dealers in Summit County, my home county, we are number 1.In the county next to ours Portage last year we were number 3 this year we are number 1. Last winter when every other dealer in the market put there heads in the sand we took over 250 more cas and trucks then we were suppose too. Let me tell you when the truck loads of cars were comming in it was a very scary site.But it paid off we are having a huge year.We are up over 50% over last year. We are having one of our best profit years ever.Then the letter came. GM sent one round of letters out we were told we were safe. Then the letter came. GM sent a very cold leter telling us that after Oct 2010 they had no need for us. Had to be a mistake. We had one chance to apeal via EMAIL.A week after they told us they didnt want us via Email. 1919 thats how long the store has been there under the same family,1933 is how long its been a Chevy Store 33 years under the current owner.
You know if I didnt love the place I would just look for another job but this is just stupid. GM and my goverment
took out a profitable tax paying involved in the community who hires People from MMRD and is closing it.
Marhofer Chevy
3423 Darrow rd
Stow Ohio
Call your US senator ask them why

Chris, I'm really sorry to hear the bad news. That's just plain cold treatment by GM. How many families is this going to affect? And what about when it trickles down to the rest of the community? Bad, bad news.

Man that stinks... and people want to trust government with their healthcare...

We have just over 100 worse was trying to explain to the adults from MMRD some of which that had been at our store
for over 15 years We are one of the largest tax payers in our town so it will effect the schools and the city.Plus the venders that count on us. We were over 600,000 profit for the year so you can do the math on what the tax loss to the city/county /state/and US will be

Anyone else want to try and push this thread in a political direction? I can keep deleting. I'm trying not to delete the whole thread for Chris' sake. In my mind talking about government is not the same as talking about politics. As soon as someone starts in on the old right vs. left, Obama is the devil, etc. crap, it's all gone.

give the troll a time out

Reminds me of what my father used to always say, "nothing stays the same".

Sorry to hear that Chris.
As a loyal Chevy owner I hope the company survives. All the best to you.

LOL..

Chris,

That sucks.

I hope, at least, with some lead time that all your folks (and You, of course) can find good places to be.

Chris.....

I also have been in the auto business for 23+ years.... Currently at a Buick/Pontiac/GMC store.....

We were one of the lucky ones, and survived both cuts. We are getting busier and busier due to the other surrounding dealers that are closing that werent as lucky. We talk about it all the time, that although we feel blessed as one of the survivors, we feel bad for all the people such as yourself that will be taking it in the chin...
My heart goes out to you and your family..... it all just sucks...

Man that sucks, sorry to hear it. Just gonna make it harder for everyone, as Dave said the trickle down effect.

I asked Harry.
We'll see if he replies.

I'm really feeling for ya, Chris. Absolutely, hard to believe. How the heck does GM plan to make it when they dump a dealer like you who has; a. a long history, b. good relations and c., that old fashioned, corporate NO. 1, MAKING LOTS OF MONEY FOR THE COMPANY? Like most things corporate nowadays, it makes no sense at all. If I was in your state, I'd sure write a letter. Strength be to ya.

Sorry to hear about your situation Chris. I work in a dealership as well(volvo, rover, jag) and times have sure been tough on us too. Thankfully I haven't had to worry about the store closing down, just a small pay cut. Hopefully things get better soon for all of us. Keep your head up.

That blows. So Government Motors arbitrarily closes profitable and completely viable dealerships without adequate explanation. Gee, such business acumen makes me wonder why they had to go hat in hand seeking bailout bucks then proceed into quasi-bankruptcy (government override of normal bankruptcy procedures) in the first place. :rolleyes:

Hope things brighten for you soon Chris.

We have a couple dealers here close to a century old (both GM and Chrysler) that the government has decided to shut down because of the government take overs of their bankruptcy.

One thing that maybe does not get mentioned enough through all this is more than people losing their jobs. Those people that have lost their jobs had money they would spend. now they no longer have their incomes, so in turn it affects other businesses and more people.

FriarJohn, I disagree, the new owners of GM, the govenments of Canada and the USA and the UAW, know all there is to designing, building and marketing autos. If the new owners of GM are eliminating successful and productive auto dealerships they know something evil capialist don't. Plus they have unlimited resources, lawyers, guns and money.

I'm sorry Chris. With all your years of experience, I hope you can find another position soon.
Paul

Been hearing the same story all over the country. GM dumping dealers with no rhyme or reason.
Good luck to you, I'm sure you will do well with whatever comes next.

Right now our plan is to fight.In the next few weeks we are going to be going public. There is a bill that passed in congress that asked to reinstate dealers,its going through the Senate right now.If it passes The President has to sign it,he already said he would not. We are going to the Media shortly we have some stats for them that should put a face on this,we spent $150000 year to date in the local newspaper alone so I am sure we can convince them to front page us. A lot of our customers have already agreed to write there congressman and the city is agreed to help us in anyway they can. The MMRD has a pretty large voice in Washington and we ary tring to get there help seeing we have a long relationship with them. But the bottom line is a voice has to be heard my voice my community voice and your voice. If something like this can happen to us it can happen to anyone.Call or write your senator ask him were he stands on this bill. The truth is I can always get another job. I already have a few offers but the truth is I shouldnt have too. The owner of my company should not have to breakup a company that his dad founded and he made better

Wow what short memories we all have....
Remember the last idiot tenant of the White house.....That was better ,right?
Dont know if this is going to be better but I at least appreciate the effort.Pick your poison.

Two problems there Chris.. first off, the dealership closings were already selected and finalized as part of the bankruptcy proceedings and it's reorganization process. To have congress step in and start mucking about with the court orders and reorganization plan is a sure path to disaster. Secondly, there is nothing saying the business has to shut down, only that it's losing it's GM funding. This may actually be an opportunity to expand the dealership into areas that were not possible before.

Granted, it may not seem fair, or even rational.. but it is what it is, and one of the great things about the American economic system is that those displaced will be reabsorbed into the marketplace in other sectors. One thing I have learned over the years is that when stuff like this happens, it has _always_ been for the better, no matter how dismal it may look at the time. Keep your chin up and keep plugging man.. it will all work out in the end.

Cheers,
Brad

My memory is clear. The "last idiot tenant of the White House" made war on our foriegn enemies, not our domestic business. There's lot of blame around, unless one listens to the Las Vegas' chief executive.

Wow MACMC, I tried to give you a lesson on appropriate behavior on a forum in a PM but you are apparently unable to comprehend simple directions. You don’t personally attack another member...duh!
I didn’t make snide comments about your ignorant opinions, (defending Bush, wow never thought I would see the day),I made a general comment related to the last comment.

What are you like 80 years old, you sound like a typical old fart crying about kids on your lawn. (See how I made that personal) get the idea? Oh I also enjoyed the fact that you miss spelled potato in another post (Dan Quale anyone), is that spelling in the republican old fart handbook (see I got personal again, that’s not nice)?

We can all happily agree to disagree, I like that. Our differences are what make the world go by. Its not like I am some screaming liberal, I just like the fact that new ideas are being implemented. I am not drinking the coolaid yet, I just think we all need to remember the last administration and give it a second before we go to Def Con Grump.