Posted on 05/19/2009 10:29:47 AM PDT by American Dream 246
My name is George C. Joseph. I am the sole owner of Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu, a family owned and operated business in Melbourne, Florida. My family bought and paid for this automobile franchise 35 years ago in 1974. I am the second generation to manage this business.
We currently employ 50+ people and before the economic slowdown we employed over 70 local people. We are active in the community and the local chamber of commerce. We deal with several dozen local vendors on a day to day basis and many more during a month. All depend on our business for part of their livelihood. We are financially strong with great respect in the market place and community. We have strong local presence and stability.
I work every day the store is open, nine to ten hours a day. I know most of our customers and all our employees. Sunshine Dodge is my life.
On Thursday, May 14, 2009 I was notified that my Dodge franchise, that we purchased, will be taken away from my family on June 9, 2009 without compensation and given to another dealer at no cost to them. My new vehicle inventory consists of 125 vehicles with a financed balance of 3 million dollars. This inventory becomes impossible to sell with no factory incentives beyond June 9, 2009. Without the Dodge franchise we can no longer sell a new Dodge as "new," nor will we be able to do any warranty service work. Additionally, my Dodge parts inventory, (approximately $300,000.) is virtually worthless without the ability to perform warranty service. There is no offer from Chrysler to buy back the vehicles or parts inventory.
Our facility was recently totally renovated at Chrysler's insistence, incurring a multi-million dollar debt in the form of a mortgage at Sun Trust Bank.
HOW IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CAN THIS HAPPEN?
THIS IS A PRIVATE BUSINESS NOT A GOVERNMENT ENTITY
This is beyond imagination! My business is being stolen from me through NO FAULT OF OUR OWN. We did NOTHING wrong.
This atrocity will most likely force my family into bankruptcy. This will also cause our 50+ employees to be unemployed. How will they provide for their families? This is a total economic disaster.
HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN IN A FREE MARKET ECONOMY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?
I beseech your help, and look forward to your reply. Thank you.
Sincerely,
George C. Joseph President & Owner Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu
Pure speculation on my part:
1) Look at the employee photo in the above picture/post....NOT ENOUGH MINORITIES/WHITE OWNED...or
Voter registration of owners checked....Closed down all (R) or those that didn't give $$ to Obama.
Just my $0.02.
The difference is that McDonalds franchises most likely don’t buy their inventory, and if they do, it becomes “obsolete” in a few days. And, the structure is usually maintained by the corporation, not the franchisee. This car dealer is now stuck with several million dollars in inventory that he is on the hook for, and has a debt to the mortgage company he was forced by Chrysler to incur (remodeling the dealership). If this is accurate, and it seems to be, Chrysler has just stuck this guy with 6-8 million dollars in obligations that it had essentially promised to cover (dealer support so he could dispose of inventory, and additional access to new cars to provide him with the revenue to cover the remodel).
I have not looked into that but what you say makes no sense whatsoever.
First of all, only about 25% of the dealerships are closing.
I find it hard to believe that 75% are not profitable and being ‘given’ the profitable businesses owned by the other 25%.
Secondly - Chrysler, if they are smart (a debatable point certainly), should only be looking at a few factors when making these decisions - first and foremost new car sales performance and secondly location. Many dealerships do very well overall but their make specific new car sales don’t stack up very well. Which means they either represent multiple makes and/or they are fantastic at used car sales. As for location, many metro areas have multiple dealerships and centralizing their business can and should be a reasonable approach.
Sounds like this dealer lost out to the other dealer in Melbourne FL, Brevard Chrysler Dodge Jeep Eagle that is some eight miles down the road and sells Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep as opposed to just Dodge. It would be interesting to see the comparison of the two regarding the sale of Chrysler products over the years.
The sad thing is you will see dealerships such as this have to take bankruptcy to try and stay afloat as they regroup, etc.
From Urban Dictionary:
v. - To promote an object to a higher symbol of status
I will entrophy the tree as the home of the tree goddess Gaia for my people
Or
Entropy; the thermodynamics concept...
My first question is how does Chrysler save money or even make more money by closing this dealership?
From a search I found an article about “Best Places to Buy a Car this Memorial Day Weekend”. Mr. Joseph was very proud of the new renovations, the help from the city, 100% handicap accessible, and the fenced-off area in the rear of the property that he considered a “sanctuary”.
It was from Memorial Day 2008. It is hard to believe (and heart breaking) to see the amount of “change” that can occur in only a few months.
What gets me is that nobody ever mentions that this is OBAMAS plan for restructuring. He rejected the plans the Chrysler and GM had. Bottom line is that the UNIONS were protected and all NON-UNION people are screwed.
Can't say that I recall. Please recount.
Another.
Well, something this overt should be easy enough to verify. If Obama is being racsist in the form of “small business reparations” it should be “outed”, as they say.
I did hear Obama say, “I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.” I saw his lips move when he said it.
The townsfolk rigged the entire town with dynamite and turned the detonator on the day that they were forced to give up the land.
They left a crater for them.
Oh, I do too. It is despicable that this is happening in the United States of America. Every day I think about what life would be like now under McCain/Palin. McCain was FAR from perfect, but I'll take him any day over this Marxist we have in office now, destroying our country (at a rapid pace) one day at a time.
I recall last autumn someone posted a story about a contractor who was worried about Obama's election. He foresaw nothing but bad economic conditions as a result. The part I recall was him saying that he'd walked out to the parking lot and idententified 3 or 4 of his workers with Obama stickers on their bumpers. They, he said, would be out of a job within a week of his being elected. I'd love to have heard the follow up.
I'd love to hear an update on that story as well.
Last fall my husband drove his long commute down to Fairfield County, CT with a sign posted on his car that said something to the effect of "I am a small business owner... the first people I will lay off are the young Obama voters". Something to that effect, but "pithier". REALLY ticked off his fellow commuters, specifically the young Obama voters. He did get lots of thumbs-ups and honks from others, though. Made his commute very interesting every day!
My husband was actually sort of a managing director of that firm, not an owner, but the owner was a pro-business, conservative Republican, and sent much $$ to GOP candidates over the years. I'm speaking in the past tense about this firm, because as of a few months ago, the firm is pretty much out of business, and everyone is just about gone, not just the Obama voters. Combination of the bad economy, banking industry basically paralyzed (and demonized), and Obama's anti-business agenda. (My husband and this firm were NOT "Wall Street Fat Cats", by the way.)
Fortunately my husband is resourceful, and is onto other things, but his old firm is no more, with 50+ employees out of work right now... More "Change We Can Believe In".
The most important thing to remember is that these franchises are costing Chrysler virtually nothing. The franchises buy the cars from Chrysler at the time they are put on the lot. These franchise dealers are Chryslers customers for Pete's sake GM for years never billed the dealer until the car was sold to the end user.
Since when is the elimination of retail outlets as well as the halving of advertising a winning combination in business. Now Chrysler has less of a presence in the market and less advertising. This makes it that much easier for a customer to go to a Ford, Toyota, or Honda dealer that is closer to his home.
Hey he sells Isuzus too so all is not lost....unless he’s lying. :)
Exactly. And it REALLY scares me to think about how - or IF - much of Obama's "Change" can eventually be undone once we hopefully get a better / more conservative President or Congress again. IF that ever happens again, with voter fraud, ACORN, gerrymandering, etc., etc....
Scary times we live in, yet most in this country are still afflicted by ObamaMania. Just incredible...
That is a good question. If lemonade is not selling well, taking down the stand doesn’t seem like a good idea.
Unless, you own all the lemons, the sugar and the water and don’t want the kids “playing” capitalism anymore...
Cutting advertising isn't always done, but eliminating retail outlets is pretty much a go-to move for struggling companies.
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