Gee situation: A comment from Sharon Huling

| Triangle | West Seattle businesses | West Seattle news

We have an informal policy that if anyone involved in or close to a situation surfaces in comments on a post about it, we will single out that comment to be sure you see it, rather than just leave it there to be discovered, or not. So, if you missed it below this post, the following comment came in very early this morning, signed Sharon Huling. (The residence-related remarks relate to a discussion in that original comment thread.)

My family and I are deeply saddened for our friends and former employees who will be losing their jobs when Gee West Seattle closes its doors. Our hearts go out to them.

I have lived in West Seattle for 27 years. My husband and kids were all raised here. We are listed in the phone book, though we have never lived on Sunset. We love WS and will continue to be a part of this community.

There have been many inaccurate and wrongful accusations recently in the news, in blogs and in the above quote from MD Johnson, Inc. With the GeeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s pointing the blame and threatening a lawsuit there really isnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t much that I can say except that the truth will come out in due time.

Lachlan September 30, 2007 (8:31 pm)

I certainly hope, Mrs. Huling, that the truth does come out- whether it exonerates your husband’s former business or not.

This chapter in WS history is deplorable, and justice will only be served when said truth is revealed and the perpetrators are held accountable.

atemybuick October 1, 2007 (8:58 am)

Did anyone else get a phone survey call on Friday regarding Gee? I usually don’t do phone surveys but I got the (false) impression it might be related to cable/internet in West Seattle so went along with it. Eventually got around to whether I’d heard of any news about Gee/Huling. I told them what I knew and that it didn’t change impact whether I would buy a car from Gee. Who’s paying for the survey? Gee says they did one before announcing they were closing.

old timer October 1, 2007 (10:33 am)

It seems so harsh to loose so many good paying jobs because of a few sleazers.

I can’t help but think that there is an underlying economic reason for the drop off in car shoppers, something beyond the scammer event. The miscreants were quickly caught, very publicly punished, and restitution was made quickly and with publicity.

Does ‘plowing salt into the soil’ make it right?

Maybe the new owner is inadequately financed.

geeite October 1, 2007 (11:48 am)

many dealerships in tighter communities all over the country have survived scandals. the situation here is the gees may only know how to operate in a mom and pop environment in spokane but some say now even gonzaga doesnt need them and has signed a deal with toyota corporate. they could be waaaaaaay out of their league in a metro market and then consider the huling dealerhsips are domestic brands. any idot knows domestic stores are in trouble and the import dealerships are the ones to buy, this certainly was the case even before they purchased is deal. the gees claim to be well financed with investor money but after this mess i doubt they will get more investor money for a do over some place else. if steve huling is smart he will draw subpoena all the dealership performance data from all gee aquisitions as evidence they do not know how to run a store if that is the case. follow the money or lack of it and it will decide if it was a scandal or managment that caused the collapse of this thing. if these stores has such a great future why didnt the hulings keep them or why didnt litha or the other big names buy them? until i am shown otherwise it would seem to me the gees are placing blame on a bump in the road when the accountability rests with their own corporate decisions from the original purchase to how the stores were run and financed.

chas redmond October 1, 2007 (5:53 pm)

Well, whatever the case with the dealerships, the Huling family still seems to know what they’re doing – they retain ownership of the land and, Gee, where is that land – oh, at the intersection of Fauntleroy and Alaska. Hmmm. No matter what goes in there that land will remain valuable – more so as West Seattle bulks up. On the other hand, with the Huling’s only owning the land and not being concerned with the distractions of an overhead rail system on their business signs, maybe they won’t oppose the use of Fauntleroy as a rapid transit corridor – at least up to that junction.

tom October 17, 2007 (4:14 pm)

The sad fact is when the Gee family sold the dealerships to Ken Phillips last week, Steve Huling refused to let him assume the lease and in doing so sent home all the employees that came back to work that day. If Steve really cared about the employees, why in gods name did he refuse to let the new owner assume the lease and pick up the back payments? Does Steve really care, or did he care more about screwing over the Gee family because of personal vengence and he was blinded by te fact most of the people were ready to come back to work and excited about it. Shame on you Steve, you could have let this sale complete but you killed it out of personal vengence and greed.

Sorry, comment time is over.