News - Bill Heard Chevrolet closes doors as part of nationwide shutdown

Bill Heard Chevrolet of Sanford closed its doors at the end of business Wednesday, part of a shutdown of all 13 of the Georgia-based Bill Heard Enterprises dealerships nationwide.

Whether the store will reopen under new management, or by Chevrolet itself, remains to be seen.

According to a statement from Bill Heard Enterprises about 2,700 employees will be affected by the closings.

The company blamed "rising fuel prices, a product portfolio of mostly heavy trucks and sport utility vehicles, economic recession, unfavorable local market conditions for vehicle sales, the crisis in the banking and financing sectors, and other factors all combined to create a business environment in which the company simply did not have the resources needed to continue to operate.''


Susan Garontakos, GM's manager of dealer communications in Detroit, said that Chevrolet has no ownership stake in the Bill Heard operation, and she had no knowledge of whether the Sanford dealership will remain open. GM does have the option, she says, of essentially running the dealership for a "brief" period of time while a new owner is sought.

Meanwhile, Garontakos stressed that Bill Heard Chevrolet customers will be taken care of, if not by that dealership, then by nearby stores. Still, customers who have ongoing transactions with Bill Heard must deal with that company, as "our dealers are independent businesses, and General Motors is not directly part of that process."

Heard's 13-dealership network includes the store in Sanford and one in Tampa, as well as dealerships in Nevada, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama and the comany's home state of Georgia. Heard, bileld as "Mr. Big Volume," shut its Chevrolet dealership in Scottsdale, Arizona earlier this month.

All Heard's dealerships sell Chevrolets, and at least one also sells Cadillacs and Saabs.

Bill Heard Enterprises, based in Columbus, Ga., ranks No. 13 on Automotive News' list of the top 125 U.S. dealership groups, with 2007 group revenue of $2.13 billion. It is the world's top-selling Chevrolet dealership.

Heard, now 74, was quoted earlier this year as saying he planned to sell several of his dealerships.

In November 2007, the state slapped Bill Heard Chevrolet with nearly 30 compliance orders and $400,000 in fees and other costs as part of settling an investigation into claims of deceptive trade practices.

Georgia-based Bill Heard's Sanford and Plant City dealerships were targeted in the probe, which was prompted by a litany of consumer allegations accusing Heard of misleading sales, finance and advertising tactics, according to Attorney General Bill McCollum's office, which handled the case.

Source : Orlandosentinel