Gee threatens to close

eric September 27, 2007 (1:51 pm)

good riddance. Leave the car dealerships to Lake City Way. I really don’t feel sorry for car dealers getting screwed – they knew who they were dealing with when they signed the agreement. You can’t trust any of ’em.

Maybe they’ll build some new townhomes or condos. Anyone taking bets?

Huindekmi September 27, 2007 (2:09 pm)

I got a phone call from a market research company the other night who were obviously hired by Gee. The questions basically wanted to know how much I (as a representative of the general public) remembered about the Huling employees taking advantage of the mentally retarded customer a year or so ago, whether that tainted my opinion of Gee, and whether or not I’d buy a car from Gee if I were in the market for one.

It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if they can’t recover from that debacle, name change or not, and end up closing.

RobertSeattle September 27, 2007 (2:25 pm)

Is Gee sitting on a couple million dollars worth of prime property though?

Chris September 27, 2007 (2:26 pm)

I just hope some of this falls back on Huling…talk about sleeze.

A.A. September 27, 2007 (2:28 pm)

Huling scr*wed us. When the car we bought (with 10k miles) had over $3k in service issues in the first 2 years, and they “couldn’t find” the service agreement we purchased, we brought the car back to Gee. We were told “no problem, we’ll fix the issue, and we can just roll your financing over to a car of equal value.”

We picked out a car, and lo and behold the monthly payment magically rose between the sales office and the finance office. The rebate on the service contract they magically found again was supposed to be $1497. We got a check for $900.

Unfortunately because we had a car that wasn’t running, and needed to get another car within a couple of hours (my partner was on call and couldn’t be car-less) we made a poor decision and simply bought the new car. As much as I love the car, I KNOW we got taken on the financing.

… And now I’m sure we’ve got another service contract that won’t be honored anywhere. Oh, that’s right, they have locations in Spokane. We could go over there for service!

WSB September 27, 2007 (2:30 pm)

Huindekmi – the KING5 story linked in our blurb mentions the market research. Interesting. Re: the property, RS – apparently (we haven’t gone into the online records yet but will later) Huling still owns the land, Gee was leasing it.

R September 27, 2007 (2:34 pm)

I had a great experience at Gee. The staff treated me with respect, and gave us a price that was (after hours of research on consumer reports) VERY close to invoice. In fact, it’s the first time that a car salesman has not lied to my face and been a sneaky, slimy jerk about it all.

I feel sorry for the staff there that was not involved that is about to get fired because of the horrible actions of others. The three that are charged (pleading “not guilty” SHAME on you) are in my opinion, not the greater whole.

Vincent September 27, 2007 (2:55 pm)

The entire ex-huling complex is the biggest eyesore in WS.
It looks like a little bit of aurora ave transplanted

Aside from rejoicing in its demise, I wonder if I can steal a car from them at some crazy blowout price.

Elliott September 27, 2007 (3:05 pm)

And let the townhome construction begin!

John M September 27, 2007 (3:23 pm)

I’m sure the property is ripe for a couple more megaplexes — like the Shucks site and Qfcs site. Trader Joe’s anyone?

Dj September 27, 2007 (3:32 pm)

I can’t say I’ll miss them. I agree, the dealerships are quite the eyesore, and I’ve of heard far more negative experiences than positive ones, though I’ve never actually done business with them myself.

@Elliott: They’d have to rezone the area to be residential, which, I don’t think would ever fly. Fauntleroy is a major thouroghfare, and putting a bunch of townhomes there would create all kinds of issues.

All of that said, I’m not sure what else they could put in there… The junction has retail and dining (more or less) covered. Based on the amount of time that the For Lease sign has been up at Andover and Delridge, I’m not sure how much demand there is for office space in WS.

Thinking about it, there’s always the off chance that somebody like Barrier or Carter might pick up the property and move in.

G. Williams September 27, 2007 (4:17 pm)

I never bought a car there but I did get my Chevy truck serviced there. They always did a good job. I never had a terribly good impression of the dealership even before last year’s scandal but the garage seemed pretty good.

Unfortunately, commuting to Tacoma every day in a pickup was killing my wallet, and S-10s aren’t exactly known for their longevity. It’s still good for short-range hauling, if anybody needs a truck, but I can’t trust it over long distances anymore, and now I drive a Prius.

G. Williams September 27, 2007 (4:19 pm)

PS: one thing that did annoy me was they started making follow-up phone calls after my service appointments. I hate calls like this and told them to stop doing it; a follow-up letter is fine, but the last thing I want to do most evenings is take what’s essentially a sales call.

Huindekmi September 27, 2007 (4:32 pm)

Sorry, WSB. I posted before reading the linked article. I find it interesting that the research call came on Tuesday night and by Thurs afternoon the decision to close (and sue) has already been made.

Kayleigh September 27, 2007 (4:48 pm)

I was as disgusted at Huling Brothers as anyone else, but how fair is it to blame Gee for Huling’s actions?

We bought a car from Gee in another location for work, and they were great.

pops September 27, 2007 (5:34 pm)

SAVE THE BIG FLAG! SAVE THE BIG FLAG! DON’T LET ‘EM TAKE OFF WITH THE BIG FLAG!

OK – here’s a scenario – the take all the cars back to Eastern WA and they sell off the property which is what they had in mind all along.

But we gotta save the big flag.

Jiggers – go chain yourself to the flag pole and I’ll be over with a thermos of martinis.

Jiggers September 27, 2007 (5:34 pm)

No more pet stores or donut sugary coffee houses please.

Admiral Janeway September 27, 2007 (6:05 pm)

The incident with the Huling employees happened before the sale to Gee. It’s easy to say in hindsight that Gee should have back out of the deal, but they should have known there was going to be fallout over this. At the very least, there should have been a big PR campaign to re-establish trust in the community.

WSB September 27, 2007 (6:30 pm)

Huindekmi — here’s a conspiracy theory for you: What if the decision already had been made, and a quick ‘n’ easy phone survey was done just so they could say “hey, it’s not our fault, this was the perception”? Admiral J — absolutely right on re: the PR campaign. Instead, all they did was go around covering up the old “Huling” signs. The other odd thing about this is, however, a week or two ago, there was some sort of “grand opening” party — we kept seeing verbiage about it flash by on the big lit-up sign at Fauntleroy/Alaska, but never saw an exact date/time — thought it was weird to have a “grand opening” party all these months later.

JDP September 27, 2007 (6:52 pm)

Huling never sold any of the real estate. I am sure this will just add fuel to whatever lawsuit is brewing between Gee and Huling. It appears it could be an issue of dislosure, but I only know what is in the newspapers. It would not suprise me to see Huling open back up in some capacity. I don’t think even they can let that property sit and not get the rent.

willamina c. September 27, 2007 (7:32 pm)

yeah, yeah, trash on lake city. we don’t really want the acres of car lots and the city dumping its problems there, either. just because the place i live isn’t cool doesn’t mean it’s okay to dump on it either. i’d love to live in west seattle, i work here and play here sometimes to boot, but if you can show me a $500 apartment with its own bathroom, including sewerage, water, and garbage, in west seattle tomorrow i’ll move in tomorrow.

that said i do hate huling brothers with a rather severe passion; they cheated my mother a couple of years ago on some really basic repairs. for what it’s worth they rode their laurels and ironclad reputation into the 2000s and then turned into horrible beasts somewhere around 2005. i don’t like that the hulings haven’t done much to make up for their employees’ wrongdoings, and gee just struck me as the same snake oil salesmen, except from spocompton and trying to understand the Seattle market. the sales pressure on me was so high (on a freakin’ $7000 used car?) that i went elsewhere on what should have been a slam-dunk transaction.

good riddance, i say. and for what it’s worth, i don’t even care if it becomes condos, anything’s an improvement over a car lot…even the creeping condo fungus.

lstinwseatle September 27, 2007 (7:57 pm)

It came to a suprise to all the employees about the decided closure of the dealerships.
The story as it’s told being Gee had no idea of the Scandal prior to the sale does look to be a bit stretched. Some sources say they were aware since last December. The story has only been expressed publicly in 1 way being the reporters way. Stretched? perhaps. Others question why a mentaly retarded man with over 100k in cash is living in subsadised housing. There are parts from the whole puzzle still missing, and probabily will not be resolved untill court.
I don’t think Gee or Huling expected it to hit the news at like it did. The location based on it’s history made for a deal that probabily made it worth the risk to weather the negative hype. As far as the Grand Opening campaign. July was when Gee/Huling sale became final, So thats why it took so long for them to actually launch a grand opening.
Janeway does have the best comment. They should have done something to establish trust back into the community, what ever attempt they made, I don’t think anyone noticed. What ever amount they invested in advertising was obviousally in the wrong direction. I think they focused too much on advertising a car rather than their name. I can think of good chevrolet,”yippi yi yo ki yay”. Sunset Chevrolet “with their low overhead prices”. What does Gee have? Red Shirts! cheap banners placed over faded Huling writing?
I think the fault lies in the poor management of the new owners.

flipjack September 27, 2007 (8:00 pm)

Car Lots belong in Seatac or FIfe or Federal Way or Renton.
What we could use in place of a car lot is a BIG ASS CINEPLEX!!! WITH 3 STARBUX IN A ROW!! AND ANOTHER QFC!!! ALL TOPPED WITH 200 UNITS OF CONDOS!!! AND A MACDONALDS!!!

The Velvet Bulldog September 27, 2007 (8:10 pm)

I have a vision of a little library with associated office space and affordable housing–much like Vivian McLean place on Delridge created by the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association. It would be great if Huling would be willing to do some sort of public/private partnership deal with that land–and it would probably help their tarnished reputation in the process.

flipjack September 27, 2007 (8:12 pm)

Or a SCULPTURE PARK!!!

Keith September 27, 2007 (8:57 pm)

Big ass Cineplexes suck, but it’d be cool to have something like Ballard’s Majestic Bay Theatres over here (in addition to the Admiral, of course). According to their site, “The Majestic Bay is our first step in developing a chain of neighborhood theatres.”

http://www.majesticbay.com/

Maybe they could even put another freaking Starbucks in it.

sassy September 27, 2007 (8:58 pm)

Velvet Bulldog – I like your vision. A dual use idea is what that area needs.

That, and a Trader Joe’s!!

Sue September 27, 2007 (10:06 pm)

WSB, as for the block party signage, you probably saw it after the party when they flashed the sign about it and said thanks for coming out. Beforehand there was a date and time for the event and description of what it was (food, music, free stuff, etc.) It was probably a month ago or so that the party occurred.

Andy September 27, 2007 (10:34 pm)

When I saw this story on the news this evening, it didn’t completely surprise me. I live within a block of the Gee dealership and I pass it, either by car or on foot, at least once per day. What I’ve noticed is that there seems to be some serious management issues inside and outside of the dealership. Gee made a belated, half-hearted attempt to rebrand the former Huling properties (signage and buildings) and the lots are disorganized, dirty, and disconnected. It is an immensely fragmented dealership physically, which must be quite confusing for potential customers. I kept waiting for them to do something (like tear down) the old Hertz building/lot and make one nice big lot. It just makes sense for a car dealership, and let’s face it, the space as it currently stands is completely wasted. The “grand opening” Gee held at the start of this month seemed to be a failure, as it generated little buzz and I didn’t see the kinds of crowds one would expect from such a planned event. I just think it comes down to this: they didn’t try or if they did they didn’t have the right people to execute a reasonable, well-thought out plan. I don’t think they took the time to understand the West Seattle community and/or market. This isn’t Spokane! It’s unfortunate that West Seattle is going to lose a significant employer, but I think this deal was destined to fail with the current ownership and lack of effort.

Bonnie September 27, 2007 (11:28 pm)

Close Gee down but they better put a Trader Joe’s in!

Dalai September 27, 2007 (11:51 pm)

Keep barking, Velvet Bulldog! That is a tremendous piece of property. Maybe the West Seattle Y could expand into the facility it should be as part of that shared arrangement. That place is over-crowded, always had to fight with Huling for parking and talk about bizarre, what about the class space adjacent to that Travelodge (?) or whatever it is.

eric September 28, 2007 (8:24 am)

Dalai… that would be interesting. The West Seattle Y actually used to be where one of the Huling/Gee lots is now. It was a great building.

DB September 28, 2007 (8:48 am)

Ok, I have 2 words for a suggestion on what do with the new space….

“Minature Golf”

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Pete September 28, 2007 (9:36 am)

Not to be lost in all of this are the 160 folks that will not have jobs come Oct 7th. I personally know that some of thesse employees have been there for many years and what will they do. The Gee family needs to remember that as a business ownere there is more to it than just sitting in Spokane and waiting for the bucks to hit their account. They need to make sure that they have given it their all before bailing on our West Seattle community and putting all of these good folks on the street without a pay check. There is no way that you can convince me that their business being down 50% over last year can be totally blamed on one bad publicity incident. I agree with an earlier poster that they should spend a lot more time out in the community building the Gee image. Get out there and sponsor some community events and show that you care about the community that you want to be a part of.

greydog September 28, 2007 (9:42 am)

As for those of you who have been ripped off buying a car – it’s your own fault. Take responsibility, do your research on the product and financing and don’t buy a car if you’re not happy with the deal. C’mon, now! This holds true purchasing a vehicle from any dealership.

I think it’s interesting how everyone is bashing Gee and Huling and not one person has mentioned how unfortunate that over 100 employees will find themselves without jobs in a terrible job market. People who have families to feed and who need health insurance. My heart goes out to you folks.

Vanessa September 28, 2007 (10:31 am)

Why isn’t anyone naming the REAL sleazeballs in this whole scenario instead of making the Huling Family or the Gee company out to be the bad guys?….Name the “salesmen” who committed the crimes by taking advantage of a mentally challenged individual and stealing his money. It’s very unfair that two entire businesses end up taking the brunt end of this crime and subsequently ends up with the loss of many people’s jobs…A few(REALLY)bad apples from the tree and we end up taking out the whole orchard..what a crying shame.

Keith September 28, 2007 (10:36 am)

Gee may have dropped the ball, but when it comes to bad publicity this was about as bad as it gets. We’re talking about an industry where people already have negative preconceived notions about the products and sales tactics, ie trust issues. Having so many employees involved in some seriously low-down criminal activity may indeed have been something the business could never fully recover from, name change or no. It’d take an awful lot of community events to counteract the front page news the whole city knew them for.

Jenny September 28, 2007 (11:35 am)

I’m sure that Gee has a case regarding Huling’s lack of disclosure about the theft. But when I heard about Gee coming in and taking over from Huling, I was relieved, and I didn’t know anything about Gee other than that they were kinda-local. I would think that Gee had a great opportunity to come in as a white knight and totally turn around the public’s perception of the dealership.

I agree with Pete & the others who are surprised that Gee didn’t spend any effort at building up their visibility as the new good guys in town.

But as for what to put there in its place, I have no problem at all with a car dealership there. Working class businesses are what make the world go ’round, even in oh-so-cool virtual post-industrial Seattle.

Way back in college mgbmbm years ago, I wanted everything to be clean and pretty like any other idealistic teenager. I would explore the local wildlife sanctuary – which, then as now, represented the ne plus ultra of ecological virtue. There I had an epiphany: Even in a pristine, robust forest, a large percentage of what’s there consists of DEAD and ROTTING plants and animals!

The moral? Real life is messy – it’s not a museum. From that day on I learned to appreciate bread-and-butter urban sprawl more. I don’t even mind it when a few buildings in a neighborhood are languishing in between owners. So I don’t begrudge another car lot or less-than-trendy strip mall per se.

Andy September 28, 2007 (11:44 am)

It seems like Gee isn’t so proud of their West Seattle location. When you go to http://www.geechevrolet.com and watch the video that is on the main page, all they show are pictures of their Spokane locations while just showing a map of where the West Seattle location sits. Seems like they’re trying to pass their other locations off as the West Seattle one. That seems kind of intentionally misleading to me. In my humble opinion, I think this impending closure is 80% lack of Gee effort/mismanagement and 20% residual effects of the Huling controversy.

dksmith September 28, 2007 (11:44 am)

Maybe the Petco could go there and leave the Charleston Cafe alone? I wonder if Whole Foods and/or QFC is kicking themselves — they are locked into their own planned spaces now.

Ron Burgundy September 28, 2007 (1:03 pm)

What a great location for a strip club and a casino! ;)

Jan September 28, 2007 (1:40 pm)

how about a strip club ( male strippers – hey, us women need something , too) – a casino…and a motel :) hehehe

That guy September 28, 2007 (2:45 pm)

Why not build a new arena for the Sonics there?

DB September 28, 2007 (3:18 pm)

Cmon people….MINI GOLF….MINI GOLF….MINI GOLF…

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Jenny September 29, 2007 (12:56 am)

OK, if we’re going to talk about what to replace the dealership with, W. Seattle has needed a decent hotel for a long time. If we don’t have a guestroom in our house, where are we going to put up my sister or mom if they ever made it out here on a visit from Detroit?

Somehow putting them up at the Travelodge just doesn’t seem right. What’s the closest hotel to W. Seattle that isn’t a dump – something near the airport? Or downtown? :-/

Admiral Janeway September 29, 2007 (7:33 am)

I think the closest, “nice”, hotel is the Silver Cloud Hotel located across the street from Safeco Field.

The Velvet Bulldog September 29, 2007 (7:55 am)

I do know that we have at least a couple of nice B-and-Bs here in WSea. One is over by the Fauntleroy Ferry, though its name escapes me–any help here WSBers? There’s also one run out of a private home that is over by Webster St. This might be a good opportunity for our local BBs to get some publicity on the blog!

add September 29, 2007 (9:14 am)

The one near the ferry is Wildwood B&B – never stayed there or know anyone who has, so don’t have an opinion about it.

This place looks cool, too: Suite Shag-a-licious http://www.seatoskyrentals.com/site/Overview/PropertyID__9602/748/DesktopDefault.aspx

Plus there are a lot of vacation rental homes around – I was surprised when I was looking around for some friends last summer. I think I got some suggestions right here on WSB!

Dalai September 29, 2007 (9:59 am)

One the other hand, my parents are older and find B&B’s uncomfortable (i.e. stairs, shared bathrooms, lack of a/c, etc). We seriously need a moderately priced hotel in West Seattle! Silver Cloud by the stadiums = too much noise and traffic. They have stayed in Tukwila, since they are unable to afford Downtown, however that is a scary drive especially at night for two 70+ year olds that don’t know the area.

geeite September 30, 2007 (7:11 pm)

Former gee employees are active with stories on the King5 gee blog its interesting stuff.

WSB September 30, 2007 (8:07 pm)

Geeite: Feel free to point them back here; since this is a West Seattle-specific site, we’ll be talking about this situation daily at least through October 7th, long after the citywide media has moved on. Scroll up the home page for the three other related posts we have added since this one. Dalai: We are posting a RRR shortly on the “where to stay” issue since we have had an interesting request from out of state.

just_dreaming October 1, 2007 (10:48 am)

Wouldn’t it be nice if part of the land could be donated for a PARK? There is hardly any green space in that area. Huling Park!

Dalai October 1, 2007 (12:55 pm)

WSB, looks like you will soon need a button for RRR’s. It is a great feature, but very need specific. Thanks

Dj October 1, 2007 (3:17 pm)

Actually, Jan, in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way, has a good point. A nice hotel in West Seattle would probably see a fair amount of business. Casino and strip joint are optional :-)

ex October 15, 2007 (4:52 pm)

If Huling is going to tear down the buildings and build condo’s. He may want to consult with someone on the contamination of the the soil before the E.P.A puts a fence around all the sites for who knows long and what expence. Chew on that Steve, there’s proof.