Tom Sparks closing Hinckley Chevy dealership

HINCKLEY – It's been a difficult year for Tom Sparks, as General Motors restructuring has shifted the very foundation of his more than 75-year-old business.

In May, Sparks learned that GM was terminating its franchise agreement with his Buick dealership in DeKalb. Things looked better for his Chevy dealership in Hinckley, which was told in June it could keep its franchise. But as Sparks has learned over the past few months what GM expects of its dealers going forward, he decided it was better just to close the Hinckley store.

Today is essentially the last day for the Chevy dealership, which accepted its last new-car delivery Thursday, Sparks said.

"It breaks my heart," Sparks said. "I can't believe, in our law system, that this can be legal. ...It was profitable until the day it closed, but with the conditions they wanted their stores to look like, we did not feel we could invest the millions of dollars it would take and stay competitive."

Sparks declined to specify what the new requirements are, saying he is bound by a legal agreement not to discuss them. Among the components GM will be evaluating its dealerships on are training, customer retention, Web presence, sales and facilities, said Mike Mooney, who owns a GM-Chevy dealership in DeKalb.

"I can't speak for Tom, but he's right, those things have elements that can cost a lot of money to do," he said. "Nobody has come to me at this point and said, 'You've got to do this,' but these programs are going to be implemented quickly, and there are going to be some costs to those things."

When Sparks lost his Buick franchise last spring, the DeKalb dealership quickly retooled and emerged as a used-car dealer. Such a transformation was not feasible at the Hinckley location, which, though profitable, had a smaller sales volume, he said.

"We have enough customer base and a big enough store here (in DeKalb)," he said. "We sold 600 cars last year."

The Sparks dealerships began in Hinckley in the late 1920s and expanded into DeKalb in the 1930s. The pair have been owned by only two families in their history.