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One of the oldest SAAB dealerships in the country, Clews SAAB (officially know as Clews & Strawbridge) in Frazer, PA will close its doors at the end of May. Clews has been selling SAABs since 1963, and has consistently been one of the top volume SAAB dealers in the U.S. They are well known in the Philadelphia area as providing top quality, honest sales and service.
Clews was founded as a boat sales and service center in the late 1950s by M. Madison Clews. In 1963, Mr. Clews took on the SAAB franchise in order to supplement slow boat sales in the off-season. He liked the SAAB because SAAB's engine at that time was a two-cycle/two-stroke, just like most boat motors of those days. The dealership was family-owned and operated until Mr. Clews decided to retire in the early 1980s. He sold Clews to a group of employees, including the business manager, Harry Zimmerman, the financial manager, Mark Zimmerman, and the sales manager, Howard Keener. The new owners made numerous improvements to the dealership, including building a new showroom building (for both boats and cars!) and expanding the service department from 3 bays to 9 bays. They treated their employees well, as testified by the fact that most employees have been working there for many years, and employee turnover was extremely low.
The present owners, all now of retirement age or older, last summer started looking for a buyer who would be willing to buy the property and continue both the boat and SAAB business. In August, they had several good potential buyers, but the 9/11 tragedy and the ensuing uncertainty in the financial markets caused these potential buyers to withdraw their offers.
Unable since September to find a buyer that was willing to continue to operate the SAAB business, Clews' owners finally sold the SAAB franchise to General Sales Corporation, a family-owned Cadillac/Oldsmobile dealer in West Chester, Pa. General Sales just opened a new facility south of West Chester on U.S. Route 202. They are adding 4 bays to their service department for SAABs, and will build a new showroom just for SAABs. General Sales had the good sense to hire most of the Clews sales personnel, and the assistant service manager and four mechanics from Clews service department. Clews service manager chose not to go to General Sales because of the amount of time it would add to his commute.
Clews boat business will continue to operate at their present location until they are able to find a buyer for the 6+ acre property. The new owner may or may not continue to operate a boat sales and service facility at that location - it's prime real estate on a major highway (U.S. Route 30) in an area that's growing by leaps and bounds.
I found all this out this morning when I dropped my '96 9000 at Clews for state inspection and minor service. Since I have been doing business with Clews since 1970, this was quite a shock, to say the least. We dumbly go on our merry way, assuming that things will never change, and they always do. At least General Sales had the smarts to hire the Clews employees, so there should be some continuity.
The usual disclaimers apply; I have no financial interest in either Clews or General Sales, etc.... I'm just an interested SAAB customer who today feels like I have lost a friend!
posted by 65.204....
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