America's oldest Buick dealer to close after century in business
America's oldest Buick dealership, Geise Buick Pontiac in Quincy, Illinois, is closing.
After 100 years, descendents of founder Henry Geise Sr. have decided to sell the dealership's assets to Poage Auto Plaza. Both Pontiac and GMC franchises will be moved to another location, and be sold under a different banner, meaning that "'By the end of the year, Geise Buick will be a thing of the past.'" So says Henry Geise Jr., who is also quick to note that his family's dealership is still profitable, but the business is "... much more competitive than it used to be."
Given that Geise Jr. is 83 now, perhaps he's ready for a little down time. And with all of the ups and downs inherent in the car sales business, we imagine he and his family have earned some.
(A 1906 Buick Model G 'Turtle Deck' is shown)
[Sources: The Herald-Whig; Hershey Auction]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Alexander Drummond 5:44PM (6/09/2006)
HAHA, QUINCY REPRESENT!!!
Anyways, this is quite interesting for Quincy. Now more Buick, Oldsmobile has been gone, soon no Pontiac.
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Alexander Drummond 5:46PM (6/09/2006)
Haha, I live in Quincy!
It's funny that a town of ~43,000 people would be mentioned on a blog such as this.
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Greg A. 6:52PM (6/09/2006)
I found an error:
"Both Pontiac and GM franchises will be moved to another location" (possibly a typo that should read "GMC"?)
According to the article that this blog entry links to, "Starting Monday, Buicks and Pontiacs will be sold and serviced at Poage Auto Plaza, 4300 Broadway, which bought both franchises."
Curiously, the article also says, "Today, he said, about 55 percent of the dealership's sales are pickup trucks." Since it doesn't mention them having a GMC franchise, these must be used pickups.
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Keith P 10:57PM (6/09/2006)
Interesting bit of trivia here, the dealership is actually younger than the average age of Buick owners.
-KeithP
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Tom Design 11:02PM (6/09/2006)
Greg A => good eye, must be a Pontiac/GMC franchise.
Any family owned dealership is an oddity and sad to lose. Nothing like a family's name and pride and ownership for a level of high service. You might not get the lowest deal, but you'll be remembered by name and as a person by the family. Quincy MA has the only family owned Buick dealership left around us. Littleton MA has a family owned Ford dealer. Wait, I'm talking about single marque family businesses. There are some mega stores owned by families around here too, with U.S., European and Asian products on their huge lots. Achhh, the other side of it is a family gathering of used car salesmen.
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Noah 12:36AM (6/10/2006)
Perhaps they have moral quams about selling modern GM.. units.... *blech* (Corvette and Kappa Platform cars exempt of course)
--Noah
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KeithDumb 1:38AM (6/10/2006)
#3 -- Keith P...
Interesting bit of trivia, Keith P must be a Toyota Prius driver, trying to bash a well respected dealership.
Don't you have a tree to hug, I mean come on. It's a family business we're talking about in the blog, not another forum for your anti-American comments.
You even from America or know how hard it is for a small business to successfully opperate for 100+ years in America?
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Terrel Owens-type 1:40AM (6/10/2006)
Let's give it up folks...maybe this dump will be replaced with a Hyundai dealership! That or perhaps a Wal-Mart selling "Made in China" Chia Pets!
:D
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PJ 4:24AM (6/10/2006)
Tree-hugging? Anti-Americanism? Prius ownership? Not sure where you got all that from one comment poking fun at Buick's geriatric image.
One of our two cars is a Prius, and I have no particular desire to tear apart the fabric of society. You know, if you can get over the "holier-than-thou" hybrid-driver image conjured up by hacks like Brock Yates, we're actually a pretty nice bunch.
I respect Buick for its relatively clear, consistent brand image--cars for old folks. That's a legitimate market that needs to be served. But you've got to have a sense of humor about these things...
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Carlton 8:29AM (6/10/2006)
#4 KeithDumb-your name says it all.
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P J's 12:42PM (6/10/2006)
The "holier-than-thou" prius image isn't conjured up by respectible authors such as Brock Yates. Just listen to most of your hybrid buddies talk about SUVs or the environment or even E85. I can only write it off as a hippie mentality turned tree hugger, can't explain the behavior otherwise. (Maybe you have some insights that would help me understand a prius owners' will for everyone to drive a prius or at least be anti-suv).
Although you sound like a nice enough guy, I don't want to be told what I should drive. I don't think you'd like being told you should drive an SUV anymore than I like being told I should drive a prius.
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PJ 4:05AM (6/11/2006)
Okay, "hack" is a strong word. I've enjoyed Yates' writing in many past C&D comparison tests. It's just hard not to get bitter when he's used each and every one of his editorial columns for the past two years to bash *your* car.
I actually don't have any "hybrid buddies." We bought a Prius because we already had one moderately fast, inefficient car in our household (my Eclipse), and we do a fair amount of long-distance driving and commuting in heavy Bay Area traffic. We also like interesting, characterful cars, but since my fiancee isn't overly picky about the driving experience, we thought we might as well save some gasoline and reduce tailpipe emissions rather than buy a WRX or TSX whose dynamics she wouldn't have appreciated that much more.
I also think it's fair to argue that Prius drivers, on average, aren't as self-righteous as the enthusiast community seems to think they are. It's simply a much more interesting commuter than a Corolla, with the added bonus of clean running and lower fuel costs (the added space and character over a Civic or Corolla is worth the higher price alone, if you ask me).
In fact, I think the argument could be made that Prius drivers are less preachy than hard-core import or domestic fanboys. On this blog, at least, I read far more comments about how we should all be driving American-branded cars than ones about how we should all be driving hybrids.
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