GLADSTONE -- Gladstone Nissan and Gladstone Honda have been sold to an undisclosed buyer.
Manager Michael R. Ralls said the deal should close by the end of September.
He declined to identify the buyer. "I can, but I shouldn't," he said.
Ralls said he is confident that most, if not all, of the 94 employees of the two dealerships at 19400 S.E. McLaughlin Blvd., will keep their jobs.
He said the new owner has a solid track record of keeping the employees of a dealership he purchases. He characterized employment under the new owner as a "lateral" move to new ownership.
News of the sale became public in part through a posting he was required to make by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
He used to have more than 100 employees, which forced him to fill out the federal paperwork, Ralls said.
The form may work well for a plant closing in Indiana with mass jobs out-sourced to China, but not for the emotional welfare of his employees, Ralls said.
He called the WARN requirement in his case, a "catastrophically awful" way to disseminate information of the sale. The wording required could easily alarm his employees.
He lists 11 manager, 24 salespeople, 51 parts and service workers and 8 clerks as affected by the sale.
The notice reads in part:
"The employment loss is expected to be permanent, although the intended Purchaser (s) intend to interview employees (without any obligation to hire them), and the sale will result in the facilities being owned and operated by the intended Purchaser. If the sales do not close it is possible that the employees will not be offered any employment and the facilities permanently closed."
The deal will close after corporate representatives of Nissan and Honda inspect his dealerships and the background of the purchaser, Ralls said.
