Cadillac dealership closes

GLENDALE — The last remaining Guy Schmidt car dealership on Brand Boulevard has shut its doors, leaving scores of secretaries, managers and salespeople out of work and officials looking to replace the Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac and GMC site with another buyer to run the 10-acre lot.

The 400 S. Brand Blvd. lot shut down two weeks ago as revenue continually declined amid soaring oil prices and a credit crunch that constricted personal budgets, store manager Akins Akins said. Though “business was terrible” before the shop closed its doors, Schmidt sold the dealership for “personal reasons,” and dealer officials have been looking for potential buyers to purchase the shop ever since, Akins said.

Schmidt could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, about 50 workers are looking for new jobs, and most of the cars that once dotted the concrete lot have been scooped up by company trucks while officials figure out which person or company is fit to run the dealership, Akins said.

Of the three managers still working at the site Tuesday, most declined to speak as they packed up boxes and wound down business operations, with Akins saying it has been a “tough time” as they await a clearer picture about their future, including their employment outlook.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.

The move to transfer ownership is not unusual for GMC, where officials have been working to consolidate operations as customers continue to move away from large, gas-guzzling vehicles to smaller cars with a higher miles-per-gallon rating, spokeswoman Susan Garon-Takos said.

“There is an ongoing effort in consolidating and channeling where it makes sense,” she said, adding that the dealership at Brand Boulevard will likely sell the same cars.

“If they are looking for a new buyer, our market research indicated we still need to have a dealership.”

As for this situation, Garon-Takos said General Motors does not broker deals between specific dealers but does verify that “they have capital” and are “qualified to be a GM dealer.”

Schmidt’s reign on Brand Boulevard stretches back at least 30 years. In addition to the GM lot it has operated for three decades, Schmidt used to own an adjoining lot at 320 S. Brand Blvd. and the Hyundai dealership across the street, at 411 S. Brand Blvd.

Alex Oganesyan, sales manager for Cars 911, on what used to be the Schmidt adjoining lot, said his company is still ironing out the details on the transfer from Schmidt to his business, which opened in early September.

Output has so for been low, and Oganesyan does not think customers who had flocked to the Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac and GMC site will transfer to Cars 911.

“Someone buying a Cadillac won’t necessary come here,” he said, surrounded by used Mini Coopers and Mercedeses.

Oganesyan and other car dealership managers on Brand Boulevard have said the decrepit economy is the primary culprit in decreased sales, and recently released figures from the city’s financial department seem to confirm that.

Total sales for new cars and leases declined about 10% in the second quarter this year compared with the same period last year, from 2.2 million to 1.97 million, said Ron Ahlers, assistant director of finance for the city.

Of taxable income for the city, that translates to a $23-million drop in sales-tax income for Glendale’s coffers, he said.

 JEREMY OBERSTEIN covers business, politics and the foothills. He may be reached at (818) 637-3215 or by e-mail at jeremy.oberstein@latimes.com.