http://www.yourgv.com/index.php/news...-closing-doors

Look above the windows and you can still see outlines of B-O-P signage from when this dealer handled all GM Divisions except Cadillac. The Olds dealer closed in 1974 and the Buick-Pontiac dealer closed in 1992, and Wyatt took on those franchises.

Note what the owner says about GM requiring $150k in appearance upgrades. GM doesn't want small locally owned dealers anymore and
Wyatt's closing leaves this town with one franchised new car dealer- Crowell Ford-Lincoln. Anything else, you have a minimum 30-mile drive for sales or service.

Being the original dealer's grandson, Caldwell had the only ZL1 1969 Camaro in these parts. The car had a fearsome local reputation and only a few local cars could hang with it. One was a Stage 1 Buick and the other was a 69 Hurst that the Olds dealer's service manager owned.

 

Here in central New Jersey, we recently had a local Chevy dealer close his doors (exact reason unknown), no warning to customers or even the employees. Open on Thursday - closed on Friday! A few years back, GM regionalized most of the local dealerships into one location but this one dealer declined the invitation. Incidentally, he also had the local Saturn dealership when they went under.

 

In reading the article, it appears that there are a number of factors in the closing. Besides the cost of upgrading the appearance of his dealership and coping with the slow economy, the owner also says that he simply wants to retire. It's not clear that this dealership wouldn't have closed regardless of economic conditions and GM's demands.

 

I think this is kinda the idea behind Wyatt Chevrolet closing too. GM yanked the Buick and Pontiac franchises out from under Wyatt Chevrolet in South Boston and Wyatt Buick-Pontiac in Danville (no relation, Wyatt is a common name here) and gave them to the Chevy dealer in Danville- again, under that "regional" thing. The B-P dealer had been in business since 1924 and had to close completely, and Wyatt-South Boston was left with only Chevrolet to sell. T&T Chevrolet in Halifax VA was also a casualty of that regionalism fallout- GM said it was too close to Wyatt and yanked the franchise. Now they want the small dealers to "corporatize" their appearance at great expense, knowing it's not cost effective for them to do it.

In one way I understand consolidating dealers, but in reality all of the small dealers sold enough cars to stay in business and they gave the customer a little bargaining room. Plus they supported other local stuff- youth sports, bowling leagues, newspaper & radio- the kind of stuff civic minded local businessmen do. Now all that's gone, and the Chevy dealer in Danville has never been known for really fair deals. You're going to pay close to sticker on any car on their lot, and they have the highest markup on parts anywhere. It was cheaper for me to drive 50 miles to Greensboro and buy the parts than it was to buy them a mile from the house.

Times change. Not always for the better.

 

Having been in the car business for a number of years and working for a smaller dealership, I can understand there viewpoint. The competition for the small mom and pop dealerships against the national chains is extrodinary. Customers will buy from whomever is the cheapest in price, there is no customer loyalty. Customer service history plays no part in the decision making process. Now dealerships want to sell 1000's of cars at low margins, it's all about numbers.

This scenario will repeat itself across the country for many years to come. It is shame!

 

rocketraider, the experience of this particular dealership is all-too-common, and the small-town, locally-owned dealerships that many of us remember from childhood are rapidly fading from the scene.

I can, however, report that there is a notable exception in my hometown, located about 400 miles away from the Seattle area where I currently live. I hope it's okay that I share the story here.

The Baker Garage is located in Baker City, Oregon, a small-town in a very rural portion of the state of Oregon. The area is most well-known for its rich Oregon Trail and gold mining history.

The Baker Garage is celebrating 100 years in business during 2013, and has been in the same facility since 1917. The Baker Garage began selling Buick and Hudson automobiles in 1913, and has sold Buicks continuously throughout the last century.

When I was a kid during the 1950's and 1960's, there were four dealerships selling General Motors products in my hometown: Quality Oldsmobile-Cadillac; Chet Smith Motors Pontiac-International Harvester; Marvin Edge Chevrolet; and The Baker Garage Buick-GMC. As each of the other GM dealerships closed, The Baker Garage picked up the GM franchises. I shot the photo below during the early-1980's, shortly after Quality Oldsmobile-Cadillac closed. The Oldsmobile and Cadillac signage had recently been added to the facility, and you can see the Oldsmobile sign mounted on the pole on the far right-hand side of the photo.



Sadly, the Oldsmobile and Pontiac nameplates have disappeared from the new car business, and GM yanked the Cadillac franchise during GM's 2009 bankruptcy. Today, the dealership sells Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC. The business remains solidly profitable, probably due largely to pickup truck and SUV sales.

In honor of the dealership's 100 years in business, I am leading a group of about 20 collectible Buicks from the Seattle area to Baker City to stage a car show in front of the dealership, Saturday, May 4. A Buick collector from the Portland area will bring a 1913 Buick touring car, representing the products sold 100 years ago. My wife and I will drive a 1959 Buick Electra, which is one of forty-five 1959 Buicks that The Baker Garage delivered as new cars.

We have teamed up with the historic (1889) Geiser Grand Hotel, located one-half block away from The Baker Garage, and the Buick Club and The Baker Garage are hosting a banquet on Friday evening before the car show. The Baker Garage is inviting 80 customers to the banquet, which will feature a professional slide show that chronicles the history of the dealership. I will have opportunity to share my personal reflections on The Baker Garage, which is a treasure trove of memories for me.

We will also offer a tribute to Glen Daugherty, who began selling Buicks at The Baker Garage in May, 1954! He and his son own the dealership, and Glen remains active in the business 59 years after he started there.

My theory about the longevity of this small-town GM dealership? It all boils down to knowing the product and knowing the customer. For those of us who have experienced the larger city dealerships, it's easy to see that those qualities are largely missing from the car business today.

Here's the Geiser Grand Hotel, which will host the banquets celebrating The Baker Garage's 100-year milestone:

 

Cool story Centurion. Nice to see that still exists in some places.

We lost all our small local dealerships around here over the past 4 years: North Shore Lincoln-Mercury, Hustedt Chevy, McCarville Ford, King O'Rourke Buick, GMC to name a few. Sad to see.

 

Caldwell has suggested that after Wyatt closes, local folks take their GM vehicles to Moore's Chevrolet for service as they are also a small dealer, but they are still 30 miles east.

Maybe nostalgia figures in too much, but it's crazy to me to have to drive 30 to 60 miles for dealer service if it's needed. Time was every small town had a Ford and Chevrolet dealer and usually a Chrysler-Plymouth. You bought your car there, you took it back to get it repaired- and you didn't have to mount a major logistics campaign to do it.

Whether GM (or other carmakers) realises it or not, it's tiresome to have to first schedule the service and then take the day off work to get the vehicle there, arrange to get home if the car has to be left, and then go back to pick it up. You can blow 2 days of vacation in a hurry fooling with mess like that. And invariably the first thng out of the service writer's mouth is "can you leave it?" Hell no, I'm already driving 30 miles to get it to you and having to blow a day off to do it. I expect you to get the car in the shop, do the work I've pre-arranged for, and get me out of there as quickly as possible.

Brian, I like that hotel. There's a downtown hotel here, about the same size, that has been vacant for many years after a stint as apartments. There are plans to refurb it as a boutique style hotel. I hope they're successful. Naysayers claim it should be torn down instead of "wasting" money refurbing it but I look at it this way- the building is sound, and a vacant lot generates no revenue of any description. http://www.thenewsrecord.com/index.p...storing_a_gem/

 

Kinda the same story here. My friendly local long time (oldest continuously family own GM dealer in the state, maybe country - 81 years) dealer Blanck Chevrolet was a victim of the re-org a few years ago. And, an even weirder coincidence ?? They handed all of the customers to another bigger mega-dealer in Danville (,IN).

Amen. I liked Blanck. Dave Blanck the owner was a great guy to talk to. Now I have to go to a mega-dealer if I need anything dealer... A dealer who might as well ask if I want fries with that. (& I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook...)

At least my son still has his little league baseball jersey with Blanck Chevrolet on it...

 

I'd love to see that show at the Baker Garage, and stay in that hotel. I bet that will be fun!