Historical location of the Everett, Wa Dodge dealer is no more.

[70charginglizard]

Our local dodge dealer gone.

This one's been there forever...apparently it's being merged in with the Chrysler dealer down the road 2 miles.

This local dodge dealer has been at this location as far back as I can remember. Not anymore. Went by today to find all the cars gone and the big move sign in front.

Took the opportunity to take one last pic of my daily driver in front with the now vacant lot.


By kels70charger

[69charger2002]

get you some signs for your garage when they take it all down! or clocks, anything!

[RallyeMike]

BBC in Burien has downsized to 1/2 the lot. Next they will be a GM dealer ..... 

[grdprx]

Brewer Chrysler down in Auburn merged with Tom Matson Dodge.  Crazy stuff

[Ghoste]

Living in a mostly agricultural area, I've noticed a lot of dealerships (not just Chrysler) closing in the small towns and villages and the ones in the larger metropolitan zones become huge auto megacenters.  The Wal-Mart big box mentality is everwhere today and I'm not yet convinced thats a good thing.

[TK73]

I was at the casino across from Lanes a few weeks back and not even a HINT they were moving...

[moparstuart]

 they are forcing all the dealers to have all 3 chrysler brands under one roof , thus shutting down dealers that have been in buisness for many years .

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

they are forcing all the dealers to have all the brands under one roof , thus shutting down dealers that have been in buisness for many years .

Which is not good at all....the dealer I bought my Daytona at is a multi-line dealer as well....made the mistake of bring it in for its first "free" oil change....they wound up overfilling the engine by 1qt.....they cant even change oil let alone trouble shoot problems on multi-lines

[nh_mopar_fan]

We had one close locally as well.

Tom Manzi Dodge in Lawrence MA had been in business for over 50 years.

Manzi Dodge closes Foreign competition, urge to consolidate led to closure
By Bill Kirk , Business Editor
Eagle-Tribune


July 06, 2007 11:56 am

—

LAWRENCE - Tom Manzi Dodge, which has anchored the corner of Broadway and Merrimack Street in Lawrence for 40 years, and which has been selling cars in the Merrimack Valley for more than 50 years, has closed.

Last Friday was the final day of work for most of the 24 employees left at the nearly empty dealership, said Tom Manzi, president and owner.

"I had tears on Friday," said Manzi, who purchased the dealership from his uncle, Harry Manzi, 28 years ago. "I was crying like a baby."

He said competition from imported cars and a push by the parent company to consolidate all its brands under one roof contributed to the closure.

Manzi, 60, sold the Dodge franchise to Clark Chrysler Jeep on Pelham Street in Methuen. That dealership, owned by Thomas Barenboim, will also now sell the Dodge brands of automobiles. All three brands - Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge - were purchased by the New York private equity firm Cerberus from Daimler-Chrysler in a deal announced May 14 following years of turmoil and billion-dollar losses for the car-maker.

Manzi said many of the longtime customers - he estimates selling and servicing cars for some 7,000 customers over the years - have been calling and wishing him well. He has assured them that Clark will honor all Manzi warranties. In addition, Clark has hired five or six of the workers laid off by Manzi.

Meanwhile, the 2.5 acres of property in Lawrence is for sale, said Manzi. He said he has three interested bidders - all of which are used-car companies. The property is assessed by the city at about $1.6 million. Manzi would not divulge the asking price for the property.

The closing ends a long history of Manzi dealerships in the region. At one time, there were four of them, one each in Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill and Nashua, N.H. It was a chain founded by Harry Manzi and his three brothers, second generation immigrants whose fathers came from Italy around the turn of the century. Over the past decade or so, each of the other branches has been sold or closed, with the Lawrence dealership the only one left with the Manzi family name.

Manzi and his wife, Suzanne, who doubled as the company's human resources professional and technical officer, said it's been a difficult last few days saying goodbye to long-time employees, some of whom have been with the company more than 30 years.




"The average years of service for our employees is 21 years," said Tom Manzi. He noted that many of the people who lost their jobs as a result of the closing are actually retiring. At one time, the company employed 55 people, but through attrition in recent years that number dwindled to 24.

The Manzis plan on spending more time on their sailboat, a 38-foot sloop they keep on the Merrimack River in Newburyport called 'What A Pleasure.' They are active at the American Yacht Club there, which is near their home in Seabrook, N.H.

Plus, Tom said he wants to spend more time on his golf game, which he frequently fine-tunes at the Andover Country Club.

While she's happy for the Manzis, company comptroller Carol Wholley, 61, of Salem, N.H., said it has been an extremely sad and stressful few weeks.

"This was like an extended family," said Wholley, who had been with the company for 28 years. "Most of the employees had been there more than 20 years. It was very, very hard seeing people packing up. You weren't just saying goodbye to a job or a career, you were saying goodbye to family."

Wholley, who will actually continue working at the company finishing up paperwork and putting the books in order for the sale, said Manzi did everything he could to save the business.

"We went through a similar thing in the 1990s," she said, "and he put his house on the line to keep us going. ... Month after month, you keep hoping, you hang in there, hoping things will turn around. This time, it just wasn't going to happen."

Ray Lessard, a Chrysler technical adviser who stopped in to the Manzi showroom yesterday, said it's difficult for small dealers like Manzi's to withstand the "ups and downs" of the marketplace with a single brand of vehicle.

While Dodge sells a variety of cars, like the Caravan minivans, the Viper and Ram pick-up, consumers are looking for more choices, he said, which is the rationale for opening what the company calls "alpha stores" with all three major brands sold.

"Three brands under one roof gives dealers a good opportunity to stay competitive," he said. "Three franchises make it easier to withstand the downturns. But it's tough to see the smaller guys go under."

Barenboim, who also visited Manzi yesterday with his two children in tow, said the alpha stores are something the company is doing nationwide.




He said Chrysler would like to consolidate the number of dealerships from 3,711 to around 2,700 over the next several years.

"There are too many of us," he said, noting that at one time, he had three stores of his own.

The transition from Manzi to Clark has been relatively smooth, said Barenboim, in part because both families know each other so well. He said his father, Robert, and Tom's uncle, Harry, had a long history. Even though they were competitors, they were also friends.

"All of us got along," he said, noting that for a while 12 dealers in Lawrence and Methuen created an association to pool their resources for joint advertising promotions during the Washington's Birthday sales.

Now, he said, only a handful of those dealers remain and the association has disbanded.

Manzi Dodge

* The Manzi family originally had a Nash-Rambler dealership on Methuen Street in Lawrence

* That became a Dodge franchise in 1956.

* In 1967, it moved to its present location.

* In 1979, Tom Manzi purchased the dealership.

* In 2007, Manzi sells to Clark Jeep Chrysler,175 Pelham St., Methuen, owned by Thomas Barenboim.

[RallyeMike]

Crap, more bad news for Dodge dealers in the Seattle area:

BBC Dodge just closed its service and parts department. I spoke with their service department after getting a mailing from Tom Matson Dodge saying that "BBC Dodge has recommended us for service", and they confirmed effective immediately, they are no more.

Worse yet, I just got a flyer in the mail saying Bil Pierre Dodge and Lynnwood Dodge (where I bought my 07 Ram) have closed for good.

I guess we will be able to join the orphan car club meets with Dodges soon. And after so recently qualifying with my Plymouths....

[GeneralLeeTESH]

Well-with the STRIKEs at Boeing in the Pacific NW and in Wichita, Kansas along with the fallout from all the vendors who support Boeing...we are DEFINATELY on the edge of a Worldwide Depression. Sound General Quarters...batton down the hatches. Stop buying ANYTHING made in China . Only buy USA made stuff-Period !!!

[A383Wing]

Puyallup Chrysler where we got the wife's new PT Cruiser has been taken over as well.....

[C_stripes]

Dealers are hurting bad here in Utah too. I heard that Brent Brown auto plex laid off 80+ people last week. The dealer I work for, Ensign Toyota Scion Honda. We only had 50 Employees and we laid off 15 so far. I was going to quit but they asked me to stay and promised me that I would have my job. I decided that knowing I have a job right now is better than a raise. So far we have only sold 15 cars this month down from about 40 this time last year. So its not just Dodge dealers hurting. Its getting scary out there.

[68charger383]

In SoCal, I haven't seen any Dodge's closing down and consolidating, But I have seen two Ford dealerships close down in the past month. I haven't noticed if any of the dealers went out, but I've seen the GMC/Pontiac/Buick dealers have merged. Its not just Dodge, its the Big 3 

[Silver R/T]

local ford consolidated with another Ford dealer, Dodge is still selling some cars. If someone wants a truck they usually drive  to Kellogg, ID to Dave Smith dealer