Grubbs, in an exclusive interview with The Daily News, said declining market conditions and a decline in the demand for Ford products within the market helped him make the difficult decision.
“We deeply appreciate the opportunity to have sold and serviced Ford Motor Company products in Washington Parish for the past 15 years,” Grubbs said, adding that another factor was Ford Motor Company’s desire to exit smaller markets in favor of higher producing ones where “superstores” can be located.
 Grubbs Ford Lincoln Mercury will close at the end of business on Friday. Owner Mack Grubbs told The Daily News that emphasis would be placed on Grubbs' GM dealership. Advertisement |
Grubbs said five employees will transfer to his Ford dealership in Columbia and others will move across the parking lot to the GM dealership.
“There are about five or six jobs that will regrettably be eliminated,” Grubbs said.
He said his GM dealership, located just north of the Ford operation, would remain a part of the Washington Parish community. That dealership opened in February 1985.
“That’s always been a very strong dealership for us and we intend to recommit our efforts to make it as strong as it can be,” he explained.
Grubbs’ dealership in Columbia is one of the higher performing dealerships in the state of Mississippi, ranking among the top 25 in the Magnolia state in sales.
“It’s all about location,” he said. “When we opened (in Bogalusa) we were looking forward to a new, four-lane highway (Highway 3241) that never happened. In Columbia, we have heavy traffic all day long on Highway 98 - we’ve sold cars in Natchez and we’ve sold cars in Mobile. People drive by and see the inventory and stop and buy a vehicle.”
Grubbs said he was comfortable in working to grow the GM side of his business in Bogalusa.
“GM has made some business decisions that won’t show up in the bottom line for a while, but they’re going to be around - and we are, too.“
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