Lu Ann Franklin, Times of Northwest Indiana Correspondent
Multiple generations of area residents have bought their new and used GM vehicles from Carroll Chevrolet in Crown Point. On Halloween, the 89-year old dealership will close its doors, laying off 42 employees and joining the hundreds of other dealerships caught up in General Motors' Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Owner Georgette Fairchild said she received notification from General Motors this summer the company "did not have prospects for a long-term business relationship." However, due to a confidentiality agreement with GM, Fairchild said she was limited in what she could say then and now.
Fairchild is the granddaughter of the dealership's founder, Bill Carroll, who started the business as a Ford dealership.
The decision to close Carroll was sealed when GM stopped sending the dealership inventory, Fairchild said. Carroll Chevrolet has about 100 new and used vehicles left in stock. The dealership's body shop and repair shop also will close.
"It's nothing to do with us. Our business has been very good. Our sales have increased during the last two years," said Dan Blaskovich, general manager. "It's GM that made the decision. If it had been up to us, we'd be here another 89 years."
Fairchild said she thanks the thousands of loyal Carroll customers and her employees, some of whom have been with the dealership for decades.
"Carroll Chevrolet sent me to college, straightened my teeth and got me my first pair of contact lens," she said. "We're offering wonderful prices on the cars we have left."
Six months ago, President Obama asserted unprecedented government control over the auto industry, rejecting turnaround plans from General Motors and Chrysler. The auto giant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced that hundreds of dealerships would be closed nationwide.
GM doesn't own dealerships, but in March, one GM executive said the move to eliminate support for those dealerships would allow the surviving dealers to expand the size of their markets. Mark LaNeve, North American vice president of sales and marketing, said the remaining dealers would have a better chance of staying healthy and attracting private investment.