ARLINGTON — When General Motors sent out closure letters to dealerships across the country earlier this year, one of those letters came to Dwayne Lane’s Arlington Chevrolet.
That means the lot will shut down at the end of next week, and the dealership’s used-vehicle inventory will move to the lot that formerly housed Dwayne Lane Dodge in Everett.
Absent its Chevrolet inventory, the dealership will take on a new name: Dwayne Lane’s Quality Used Cars.
More than 2,400 GM dealerships received closure letters earlier this year, saying the corporation was ending their franchise rights to sell new GM products. The list was not made public, but an estimated 30 of those closures were in Washington.
The Arlington lot will move its entire used-car inventory to Everett, but only 10 or 11 of the dealership’s 15-member staff will keep their jobs at the new lot. The sales staff will be retained, but a few administrative and service workers will lose their jobs.
Dwayne Lane president Tom Lane said the dealership process was unprecedented, and that moving the lot from Arlington seems like the best step for the company at this point.
“The whole dealership closure process is – it’s unheard of,” he said. “You don’t really know what to expect. We were living history. It’s the first time ever they’ve done that.”
The Everett lot covers 4 acres and will allow for an expanded inventory of used cars.
Lane described the move as “bittersweet and somewhat ironic,” considering that the company conducted a lengthy search for the Arlington location. The dealership was in business about 15 years.
“But the meltdown of the automobile industry is what it is,” Lane said. “You play the hand you’re dealt.”
Eventually, he’d like to revive an Arlington location.
“That town has been — I can’t thank them enough for their support,” he said.
The Everett location will open Sept. 1 at 7800 Evergreen Way.
Read Amy Rolph’s small-business blog at www.heraldnet.com/TheStorefront. Contact her at 425-339-3029 or arolph@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
