Dealer Family Owned Dealer Gone...

[Hard]

Bar-Chel in Springville, NY is closing Monday, 5 February. Goodbye to another family owned dealership that has been around for years.

That's too bad. Are they closing their doors or bringing in another line of tractors? Did JD jerk their franchise away?

 

[jdpfeffer]

Rumor is JD took the franchise because the dealer wouldn't sell more ag equip- The dealer was mostly residential and utility tractors.

 

[Hard]

Rumor is JD took the franchise because the dealer wouldn't sell more ag equip- The dealer was mostly residential and utility tractors.

My dealer was the same...residential, compacts and utility tractors. Not much ag to speak of.

 

[montanaman]

There were two dealers near me that closed. These were actually the closest dealers to me so it should help my business but the one dealer I knew very well and his customers really liked him. Some people prefer to deal with a small business where everyone working there has a real interest in customer satisfaction and they might even know a thing or two about the product. The big JD dealer near me had an employee tell a friend of mine that the large compacts he was looking at were all powered by liquid cooled gas Kawasaki engines???? This is a chain that sells surplus building materials and I'm not sure they know much about that either.

My local guy was as loyal to JD as the day is long and would not stock a product that JD had in a competing brand. If he had ruffled their feathers years back and gone multi-line, he might still be in business today. He actually had two locations so I wouldn't call him that small.

The rumor I hear is that if you aren't doing 3 million a year, you are gone and if you can't see doing 5 million in the near future, you're gone.

Ken

 

[shane]

There are 10, thats right, 10 dealers in middle TN merging to form Tri-Green, a JD mega dealer. They sent out a letter saying that they were doing this to have better puchasing power. The other day the local paper had a spot about the dealer in Murfreesboro. The owner said that JD was forcing this. Said JD says either buy, sell, or merge your dealership. No other choice.

 

[RollTideRam]

There are 10, thats right, 10 dealers in middle TN merging to form Tri-Green, a JD mega dealer. They sent out a letter saying that they were doing this to have better puchasing power. The other day the local paper had a spot about the dealer in Murfreesboro. The owner said that JD was forcing this. Said JD says either buy, sell, or merge your dealership. No other choice.

This is what got me upset. I saw a "TriGreen" ad in the American Classifieds, it had many dealers in North Alabama and Southern Tennesse, but my small dealer was not part of this group. JC

 

[ejb17]

JDpfeffer,I did not hear about Bar Chel in Springville closing. Do you have any other details? Are they having an auction or closing sale? Any other info would be great. Myself,friends and family have bought a lot from them over the years. It would be a shame to see them close.

 

[Hard]

I'm fortunate I bought my JD when I did from a small dealer. I got a great deal and great service. They are gone now and if I were to buy today I would have to buy from the local big dealer and would not get any discount (I know because I tried to buy my 2320 from them). Once Deere has shaken out all the smaller dealers and big, mega dealers are few and far between full list price is what you'll pay for a JD machine in the future. I was very excited about my new JD and still am but If I buy a new tractor down the road I will look at other major brands If I can't deal with JD.

This strategy my backfire on JD. Kubota, NH, MF and Mahindra build some very, very good tractors and have some great dealers representing those brands. What a great opportunity for those other major brands this may turn out to be.

 

[JDSkidsteer]

I have customers acuse us of trying to price fix which is NOT happening and I had a customer disatified because he got 3 different prices from 3 different locations. We cant win. You still have to deal with different salesman who are fighting to make a living and we still have to be competitive with other brands. As far as prices being different than some of the mom and pops, look at their location as for paying higher taxes and higher wages in some of the faster growing areas. Not to mention the better facilities and training to care of their customers. We have a lot of customers who by from small out of town dealers who bring their equipment to us for warrnanty and repair because of the ability to service them better and take care of them just as though they purchased from us. Even when we were a large mom and pop ourselves. Lets face it. Business all across the board is changing. I once owned a business and the government makes it hard for the small business' to servive unless you are from another country, then you get special tax breaks. I think this is more of a big brother issue than a Deere issue. Of course I am just a poor ole salesman trying to make a living and I may see things different as we seem to be living in a global economy were American companies are not getting free trade advantages as other companies from other countries.

 

[jdpfeffer]

JDpfeffer,I did not hear about Bar Chel in Springville closing. Do you have any other details? Are they having an auction or closing sale? Any other info would be great. Myself,friends and family have bought a lot from them over the years. It would be a shame to see them close.

I believe they shipped everything new back to deere- not sure what is happening to the used stuff, although I have since heard that Zahm-Matson is going to be moving in soon- They are getting bigger all the time- i think they have five dealerships in WNY.