End of the road for car dealership

After 75 years in business, the Lawrence family’s last remaining dealership has closed.
“To make a long story short, we made a business decision that we felt better closing the doors and selling the property,” said Skip Lawrence, who co-owned the dealership at 5400 S. Laburnum Ave. in Henrico with his brother Mark.
The dealership, along with 788 others across the country, received a letter in June that the bankrupt automaker was abruptly terminating their franchise agreement.
The Lawrences, who are third-generation operators of the company, quickly re-branded the Airport Chrysler Jeep dealership to be the Airport Motor Company and began selling used cars.
That experiment ended a couple of weeks ago.
“This facility was built to support a service and parts department, and it just wasn’t able to support enough sales to pay for the property,” said Skip Lawrence, adding that they were unable to generate enough revenue to cover taxes and overhead.
Now the property is up for sale for $5 million. Lawrence said they have had a number of interested parties come and look, including auto dealers and other users as well. The county has assessed the property at $3.7 million. It is at the corner of Laburnum and Eubank Road.
All of the vehicles and parts have been sold at auction.
The Lawrence family once operated another Dodge dealership on West Broad Street that was sold late last year, before the forced closures.
The company’s dealership near the airport was one of two in the area that were dropped by Chrysler. Dodge also ordered Pearson Dodge on Midlothian Turnpike to close. Pearson Dodge is selling used cars at that location under the name Automax. Pearson was allowed to retain its other Chrysler dealership on West Broad Street.
Lawrence said the automaker’s handling of the bankruptcy was a disaster.
A week before the letters were sent out, Lawrence said, he was on a conference call with Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press urging dealers to buy more cars.
“Of course we did, hoping we were going forward,” said Lawrence.
Mike Allen, director of public affairs for the Virginia Auto Dealers Association, said about half of the state dealers who were axed by Chrysler have given it a go in the used car business, with mixed success.
“It’s a tough time to be in the used car market,” said Allen, adding that people who typically buy used cars are fixing up their older cars and keeping them on the road longer.
A handful of used car lots along West Broad Street and Route 1 have closed within the past year and now sit vacant.
And a used car operation misses out on performing warranty service, sometimes the only profitable piece of a dealership.
“Most dealers over the past couple of years have netted a loss on vehicle sales. Once they pay the overhead that are related to a sale, they actually come out behind,” said Allen.
As for the Lawrence family, an era in the car business has come to an end. But that ending comes a chance to start something new.
“I’m going to catch my breath for a couple of weeks and decide what I am going to do going forward,” said Lawrence. “One thing I’m pretty sure of: It won’t involve the car business.”


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