By ANTHONY BOTTAN
Chrysler officials told Beecher they were closing down his dealership.
Beecher's is just one of 789 nationwide Chrysler dealerships that were recently informed of the shut down. That's about 25 percent of its franchises across the country.
"It sent a shiver down their spines," Beecher said when he broke the news to his employees.
Beecher said he has maintained around 20 employees a year at his dealership, and 15 of those jobs will be eliminated because of Chrysler's downsizing. At around 10 a.m., on May 14, Beecher said he received the dreaded phone call from a Chrysler zone manager, who gave him the bad news. "They told me 'we are very saddened we have to do this, but it's not us doing it, it's upper management,'" Beecher said.
He noted that he will continue to service used cars and Chryslers at his location on Merrick Road. He has about 5,000 customers, he said, and he has no plans of stopping his service to the community. "People don't want to go anywhere else," Beecher said.
He added that even though he has until May 26 to take official action against Chrysler, he'll choose not to. Beecher said he was not told a specific reason on why they were closing his location down, but he had an idea that the closing of his dealership was imminent. "They've been trying to sell this for four years," Beecher said, "and they turned down numerous qualified buyers. They want [ a dealership on] Sunrise Highway only."
Beecher began selling cars, he said, when he returned home from fighting in World War II.
Gerard Broschart, who has been the general manager at Beecher's dealership for 26 years, said he is committed to Beecher and the community. "I'm not content with what's going on, but we're moving forward," Broschart said. "I mean, what else are we going to do? This is a great community and this is going to hurt it."
Broschart noted that there were times when he and Beecher worked seven days a week; their motto being that people come first, he said. He added that with all of the Chrysler cuts, there won't be a Chrysler dealership from Wantagh to Staten Island. "We were the only one left," Broschart said, "and for them to take us out like this is horrible."
