RIPLEY, W.Va. - An era of tight credit, slow-moving inventories, high fuel prices and failing dealerships would cause many entrepreneurs to avoid the auto retailing industry like the plague.

During the past six weeks, perhaps the largest retail auto chain in the nation, Bill Heard Chevrolet, closed its 12 outlets and laid off 2,700 employees, while closer to home, Huntington's White Chrysler-Jeep went out of business. According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, 700 new car dealerships are expected to close by the end of this year.

"But it's also an opportune time to get in the business," said Don Tate, the new owner of the huge Tom Peden General Motors and Chrysler dealerships in Ripley. "There are super bargains to be had. You just need to be able to turn over your inventory."

Tate owns 16 Fas-Chek and six Save-A-Lot supermarkets, and co-owns the Mark Porter GM Super Center in Pomeroy, Ohio, which he founded 17 years ago.

The Pomeroy dealership remains profitable despite difficult economic times, Tate said, due mainly to a management team that "surrounds itself with good people."

Tate said he plans to keep all 52 former Tom Peden employees on the payroll. "You can replace equipment, inventory, desks and supplies, but you can't replace good people," he said. "The service manager's been there 22 years - to me, that's valuable."

The purchase price for the Tom Peden Country dealerships was in excess of $3 million, according to Tate, "which was still less than the appraised value of the property alone."

The property includes the former Tom Peden Chevrolet, Pontiac, Cadillac, Buick and GM dealership, and the Tom Peden Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealership, located on adjacent lots on U.S. 21.

"The lot goes for a half-mile along the highway, with one end at the Chrysler dealership and the other at the GM operation," Tate said.

RIPLEY, W.Va. - An era of tight credit, slow-moving inventories, high fuel prices and failing dealerships would cause many entrepreneurs to avoid the auto retailing industry like the plague.

During the past six weeks, perhaps the largest retail auto chain in the nation, Bill Heard Chevrolet, closed its 12 outlets and laid off 2,700 employees, while closer to home, Huntington's White Chrysler-Jeep went out of business. According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, 700 new car dealerships are expected to close by the end of this year.

"But it's also an opportune time to get in the business," said Don Tate, the new owner of the huge Tom Peden General Motors and Chrysler dealerships in Ripley. "There are super bargains to be had. You just need to be able to turn over your inventory."

Tate owns 16 Fas-Chek and six Save-A-Lot supermarkets, and co-owns the Mark Porter GM Super Center in Pomeroy, Ohio, which he founded 17 years ago.

The Pomeroy dealership remains profitable despite difficult economic times, Tate said, due mainly to a management team that "surrounds itself with good people."

Tate said he plans to keep all 52 former Tom Peden employees on the payroll. "You can replace equipment, inventory, desks and supplies, but you can't replace good people," he said. "The service manager's been there 22 years - to me, that's valuable."

The purchase price for the Tom Peden Country dealerships was in excess of $3 million, according to Tate, "which was still less than the appraised value of the property alone."

The property includes the former Tom Peden Chevrolet, Pontiac, Cadillac, Buick and GM dealership, and the Tom Peden Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealership, located on adjacent lots on U.S. 21.

"The lot goes for a half-mile along the highway, with one end at the Chrysler dealership and the other at the GM operation," Tate said.

The new merged dealership will be called the Tate-Porter Family Auto Mall. On Monday, the new dealership's signs were being installed.

Tate said the sale was preceded by more than two months of negotiations, which took place during some of the gloomiest economic times in recent history. BB&T did the financing.

Tate said he would pursue an aggressive advertising campaign that would not include Mark Down, Tom Peden's iconic radio ad personality.

"Mark has been permanently retired," he said.

When Peden opened his Ripley car lot 23 years ago, "he created a different marketing world," said Ruth Lemmon, president of the West Virginia Automobile and Truck Dealers Association.

"He became a destination dealership. He took over a dealership that never sold 200 vehicles a year, and moved on to become the third- or fourth-largest dealership in the state."

Reach Rick Steelhammer at

rsteelham...@wvgazette.com

or 348-5169.