My Father-In-Law is going into semi-retirement and has sold his Ford franchise to another dealer in Fairbury, IL. The dealership has been in the family for 75yrs. Sadly these small sized family dealerships, here in IL anyway, are going away in favor of the "mega-lots". When my wife and I were dating and she told me her Dad was a Ford dealer I got a big smile on my face and thought... this is going to be alright! He's a great guy and has served his small town well over the years.

A close out auction will be held on Saturday 6/18 starting at 10:00am. If you want more info you can go to edelmanauction.com. You can also contact me with any questions and I'll try to get them answered for you.

If any of you Illinois FTE's think you might attend PM me as I'd like to meet you. Hope to see some of you there!

Rob

 

It is sad to see all of the "Mom and Pop" type smaller businesses go out of business. I feel it takes a lot of flavor out of a community. When I was a kid my dad ran a two stall auto repair shop, it had a smell of a small repair garage, something the big, multi-bay shops of today just don't have. Once in a while I'll stumble onto a small shop and it'll have the smell and it instantly brings back memories of working with my dad in his shop. The big maga-dealers just don't have the same type of sells force as the old local dealers. I remember family members and friends going to the same salesman at the same dealer for years and recommending him to others. Today the doors are like a revolving door with salesmen. You can never form a relationship because they come and go.

If I was closer I'd check out the auction just for the nostalgia. I could also really use the lift.

 

Rob- I'm gonna try to be there. I can't plan that far ahead but don't know of any conflicts. I'll let you know when it gets closer. Stu

 

Stu, hope to see you there. Let me know if you can make it. Maybe we can interest Jeff as well as he's pretty close.

 

Bob, I agree and hate to see the small town dealers go. I bought my last car from my father-in-law and had to pay a goofy tax because I didn't purchase the car in the town I live. Gotta love Illinois!

My father-in-law is a true customer service guy. Quick small town dealer story... we had sat down to Thanksgiving dinner a year or two ago and one of his little old lady customers came by because she couldn't reset her clock in her car. He didn't get mad he just got up from dinner, went out and helped her out and then came back and resumed dinner. I wonder if most of the sales consultants down at Mega Motors would do that? Probably not.

 

At this pace I expect to someday see cars sold out of giant vending machines. ...and after dealing with some salesman, sometimes I think that is not such a bad thing.
However losing personal contact is really draining the fun out of the modern world.

 

Rob - I think I'm good. The wife's side is having a Father's Day get together on Sunday, but on Saturday I can do as I want. I also talked to my buddy Rusty about riding along and sounds like he's interested. So hope to see you there. Stu

 

Ha! Maybe Costco will start selling SUV's in 2-for-1 blister packs in the not too distant future... who knows?

Seriously though, I hate to see another small, independent business go under. When I was a teenager I had a job pumping gas at a full-serve gas station with a two-bay shop. The owner was incredibly successful and well known throughout town because he did quality work and provided great service. He never had to advertise in the paper or the phone book for customers. The regulars were loyal to a fault, and word-of-mouth worked extremely well for growing the business. With all of the chain competition, I can't imagine trying to run, much less start, a business like that these days though...