Rust Chevrolet

[XP715]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/11/...lUpperPromoArea

A small-town Chevrolet dealership is told to close, and the town it calls home will probably go with it. Another piece of America's past is gone forever. I bet everyone in town has at least one of this dealership's cars in their driveways.

Edited July 14, 2009 by XP715

[PurdueGuy]

It may be sad to see something come to an end, but it's also likely a good business decision. Things change, and GM can't afford to make decisions based on nostalgia and sentiment.

[XP715]

I agree that tough decisions need to be made when stuff gets like this, but it's still a shame. It's too bad things weren't different so a place like this could keep plugging away like it did for 94 years.

[ocnblu]

NINETY-FOUR YEARS

[Intrepidation]

More people who will never buy a GM again.

[A Horse With No Name]

Agreed, DF.

I almost wonder if Chryco will come out of this better than GM.

Chris

[PurdueGuy]

More people who will never buy a GM again.

Oh no, GM lost all 10 residents of that town as customers. How shall they ever survive?

Actually, I googled the town population, and it's less than 900 people. Sounds like a pretty lousy place for a dealership to me, unless it's a little suburb town that's really part of a larger sprawling populated area.

Whoops, looked it up on a map... it's in the middle of nowhere. Yeah, I'd drop that dealership too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cissna_Park,_Illinois

[Intrepidation]

Well dude, I understand GM closed it because it made business sense to them. They had to do it.

However one has to stop for a moment and think. Sure it's "10 whole people" Well GM and the rest of the Domestics probably said that for decades.

[balthazar]

Just heard tonight my truck's original dealer, and my choice for factory service, is not going to get renewed in 2010. There since '55, in a town of 2000.

Whole 'dealer-reduction' still doesn't make sense to me AFA GM is concerned ....

[capriceman]

instead of closing Dealers my GM should have stopped forcing inventory on them. or make them outlets where they order a car. they have a couple models and the buyer can choose the options and then GM makes it and delivers it to them.

[cletus8269]

instead of closing Dealers my GM should have stopped forcing inventory on them. or make them outlets where they order a car. they have a couple models and the buyer can choose the options and then GM makes it and delivers it to them.

personally thats how i have thought the company should have been running. albeit a little stone age, most car buyers expect the same experience as going to best buy. "what? you dont have what i want in stock? fine i'll go somewhere else then." DSFD505 ordered his ranger from the ford dealership... had everything he wanted and nothing he didnt, for the most part. when was the last time anyone besides the government was allowed to order exactly what they wanted? that is a huge way to cut unnecassary costs. over abundance of product costs money just sitting there. I printed off my order form from the website of what i wanted my colorado to be and instead they "found something comparable". didnt even want to talk about ordering. When my dad went to go get his 94 z28 he wanted to order it but the dealership was scared he would back out while waiting the 6-9 months for the car. he was willing to pay a deposit on the car and all. he finally settled for a red t-top z from NC but really he wanted a hard top z. sometimes i wish he had held out for the latter.

[cletus8269]

Oh no, GM lost all 10 residents of that town as customers. How shall they ever survive?

yeap, and then the people who watch this on the net see it and think "wow they really dont care do they?" wonder how many are thinkin that this very minute... bet a lot more than 10 right?

in all honesty those 900 people convince just 10 people to see it their way and thats 9000 vehicles that just didnt find buyers. retail is a very very heated battlefield when it comes to word of mouth. when i worked at office depot, we had a store meeting based on "give them the pickle". then it was something like 1 in 5 people would tell about good service, but 4 in 5 would tell about a bad one.

found this on the web just now.

84% of adults who had a negative experience indicated they would inform others, up from 74% in 2007 and 67% in 2006.

http://www.rightnow.com/files/analyst-repo...pact_Report.pdf

[gm4life]

Well my dealer in a town of 2,300 is still around. They are safe but still I really feel for all these small towns and people. I could very well be done with GM if my dealer gets axed. A good part of the reason I am sticking with GM is because of my dealer, even if it is a 1/2 hour drive for me south of my town. I already lost Pontiac and if I lose my dealer, it could get real ugly.

[PurdueGuy]

It seems like a great method to have customers order exactly what they want, but as crazy as it seems for as much money as it costs, vehicles are often impulse purchases. If GM could get the order to dealer time down to a very short timeframe, it would help, but it still won't be fast enough for a lot of people. It's a "I want it right now" society.

Yes, it's sad to see places with such a long history go away, and just because a dealer is in a small town doesn't mean it's not being run well and making a profit. There is also a lot of concern about word of mouth negative advertising from these changes. However, the company is restructuring. It's bloated, and some of that bloat has to go. You can't keep every dealership just because a small group of people are kinda fond of it. It has to make sense. A lot of small town dealerships don't make sense.

[knightfan26917]

A lot of small town dealerships don't make sense.

*nods*

I agree.

And, yet ... sometimes those dealerships drive the small town's economy. It's a vicious cycle that doesn't seem to be letting up any time soon, if at all. It's tough to see 94 years of history, etc., go away.....

Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker ...Chitown #2 = 07/25/09

WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"Shouldn't have to give a reason why" ... Chris Daughtry ... 'No Surprise'

[Blake Noble]

It happened here in Berea. Britton's Chevrolet opened back in the '50s and shut down earlier this year.

[daves87rs]

I see more dealerships closing down as we get to buy even more online....