Ford says "No" to deal

When news broke last week that Legendary Ford-Mercury would close its doors, dealer principal Tommy Calhoun told The McDowell News there was no possibility the dealership could reopen.

[colormeblue]

I don't understand Ford's decision here. Legendary was a profitable dealer. At the time of their closing they ranked 5th in sales in the western NC district and 15th overall in North Carolina.Right now our US Congressman Heath Shuler and our State Senator Joe Sam Queen are in contact with Ford headquarters trying to save this dealership. I would like to say thank you and God bless Mr. Ford Miller for stepping in and trying to help save this Business. If all their efforts to save Legendary Ford fail I will be forced to take my Fords to Asheville or Valdese for service because the dealer in Morganton[Cross Roads} is the sorriest bunch I have ever dealt with. If you are a McDowell County Ford owner let me warn you to stay away from these crooks.

[Marion_Needs_To_ Grow]

I think there's a lot more to the closing of Legendary Ford than what is currently being made public.

[Cal57]

Yep I think there is more to the story than what has been told so far.I sure hate to see the dealership close, was my first place of employment at the young age of 16 way back then. It had just moved to its present location.

[Realist]

This was not a matter of FORD DEALERSHIP deciding to close the Legendary Ford. Poor management led to this closing. The property had been re-mortgaged and re-mortgaged on top of the floor plan for the actual autos on site.

This is why some smaller dealerships survive and others do not. This is the same with many other small businesses (not just auto dealers) that close and scream economy yet others tough it out and survive through the roughest of times.

Don't throw the blame on the FORD MOTOR COMPANY.

While Mr. Ford Miller's intentions were honorable, I feel certain that even if everything was paid and caught up if the same management was in place we would be in the same place again in only a short time. This is why FORD MOTOR CO. wanted nothing to do with Tommy Calhoun being allowed to catch up and just start running it as it were a few weeks ago. That was the problem to start with.

Sometimes its hard to hear the truth but that's the bottom line here.

Ford sees this dealership as a liability and if the dealership were truly very profitable as some of you have stated, these loans would not have been out there hanging over their heads, and there would have been no problem getting a loan if their credit and assets were substantial enough.

[Mustang302]

Realist, you hit the nail on the head.

Tommy Calhoun wants to be portrayed as the victim here and the bottom line is he is the cause of the entire situation and is solely responsible for all those dedicated employees who lost their jobs.

If the media such as the newspaper really sought out and INVESTIGATED their stories like in the old days instead of just printing what Tommy Calhoun told them to print or hear-say they would be able to dig up plenty on the poor management of this location.

Chuck Abernathy and the City of Marion are not responsible for holding the hands of and/or keeping small businesses running. They have very little control over the management of any small business in the area. They can try to help but the bottom line is each business owner / manager is responsible for themselves. Chuck, City of Marion, nor Mr. Ford Miller could fix the management problems of Tommy Calhoun and this is the end result.

[Marion_Needs_To_ Grow]

All I know about Legendary Ford is that they went from having a lot of cars (Mustangs, Focus and other cars) on their lot to having way too many of those F-350 trucks.

That in itself sounds like poor management. They barely have had any Rangers of F-150 to choose from...but they had every color possible in those Power Stroke Diesel's.

[Mustang302]

That was true Tommy Calhoun was determined to make Legendary Ford compete with Ken Wilson Ford in Canton on big trucks. You can not expect a dealership that is in town and away from the line of sight of a major interstate to compete in this way. That was the start of the demise of the local Ford dealership as we know it.

The location of the dealership was also a factor I am certain in Ford Motor Companies decision making process.

Maybe if the dealership had been located and was visible from I-40 things would have been a little different. But without different management the end result would have been the same I am afraid.

Until Marion can secure some large chain restaurants, shopping, and more modern conveniences, large corporations are not going to want to bring jobs to this area.

Last I heard our industrial park off of interstate does not even have a true broadband provider on that road "Rockwell Drive" and Charter Communications wanted over $10,000 to bring their line from the Hampton Inn to Rockwell Drive. We can't even offer industrial park residents decent broadband internet!

This says a lot about McDowell County and its state at the present.

[mcdowell taxpayer]

if you read the mcdowell news today looks like they did more or less confirm some of what "realist" and "mustang302" were saying in this thread.

looks like Tommy Calhoun did know this was coming and this was not a surprise as he wanted everyone including his employees to think....

[shelbyGT]

it looks like to me mustang302,realist,mcdowell taxpayer,marion needs to grow, do not know what the hell they are talking about. It sounds like a bunch of rednecks talking just to be talking!!!!

[booboowil]

Now peoples starting to get somewhere Inside the ford store not ford itself glad somebodys digging it out all that needs to be done is everybody keep digging an they will get the rest of the truth DIG DIG DIG

[colormeblue]

I saw a big ad in the McDowell News yesterday announcing that Tommy Calhoun is now with Paramount Ford in Valdese. He is their new sales manager. Who would have thought it. Some of my inside sources tell me he got a generous payoff to close his dealership at Legendary. I hope this isn't true. If so how could he have kept this from his 22 employees. Some of them just recently bought a new Ford from him. He should have warned them they were about to lose their jobs and the means to pay for the new vehicles.

[colormeblue]

I contacted Ford Motor Company when this story broke. Here is part of the e-mail I received from the customer relations department in Atlanta.

Dear xxxx,

Thank you for contacting the Ford Motor Company Customer Relationship Center regarding Legendary Ford.

We do apologize for the inconvenience the situation has caused you. However, Ford and Lincoln-Mercury dealerships are independent businesses that are privately owned and operated. Ford does not have control when will the Dealership be closing for business.

[mcdowell taxpayer]

shelbyGT in all honesty your blurb is the one without any real substance. If you wish to call me a redneck by all means have at it but I have a feeling those others you mentioned are educated whether rednecks or not, and have true knowledge of this situation. They are not just talking to be talking but rather want the public to understand what the press has not been so forthcoming about.

The group of posters you named are simply stating various facts of the whole ordeal to shed light on the situation and the fact that FORD MOTOR CO. is not to blame nor do they care how much money anyone throws at the problem; they have no desire to continue a relationship with Tommy Calhoun or the existing management at the former Legendary Ford.

The dealership; despite what Tommy was trying to relay to the press was losing money and losing it fast. Thus, Ford Motor Co. does not want the same management even if someone had all the money in the world.

It is slightly possible if someone put together a good business plan involving "NEW MANAGEMENT" with a business track record of success in new autos they would consider working something out with Marion. However, the fact the location is not immediately visible from a major interstate also hurts those chances. Now the large companies want new dealerships in highly visible locations such as large cities or visible from major interstates.

[mcdowell taxpayer]

I don't think Tommy Calhoun got a big payoff from Ford Motor Co. at all but who knows? anything is possible.

I can assure you he was making plans and discussing the closing in a scramble for quite some time prior to the closing. He was looking out for #1 and had little or no concerns for his employees. If he got a big payoff would he be so eager to be right back at work driving to Valdese daily?

He knew what was coming and purposely withheld vital information from his employees for his own gain and then lied to the press and other supporters! That's what has me the most angry. I would rather him have kept tight lipped about it rather than just boldly lying to the face of those who were dedicated and working for him.

[mcdowell taxpayer]

just another thought, i probably would not want to be working anywhere near the Valdese location if Tommy Calhoun is now the Sales Manager....

maybe Valdese is closing soon and they just don't know it yet!

[colormeblue]

mcdowell taxpayer wrote:

shelbyGT in all honesty your blurb is the one without any real substance. If you wish to call me a redneck by all means have at it but I have a feeling those others you mentioned are educated whether rednecks or not, and have true knowledge of this situation. They are not just talking to be talking but rather want the public to understand what the press has not been so forthcoming about.
The group of posters you named are simply stating various facts of the whole ordeal to shed light on the situation and the fact that FORD MOTOR CO. is not to blame nor do they care how much money anyone throws at the problem; they have no desire to continue a relationship with Tommy Calhoun or the existing management at the former Legendary Ford.
The dealership; despite what Tommy was trying to relay to the press was losing money and losing it fast. Thus, Ford Motor Co. does not want the same management even if someone had all the money in the world.
It is slightly possible if someone put together a good business plan involving "NEW MANAGEMENT" with a business track record of success in new autos they would consider working something out with Marion. However, the fact the location is not immediately visible from a major interstate also hurts those chances. Now the large companies want new dealerships in highly visible locations such as large cities or visible from major interstates.

McDowell Taxpayer,another reputable Ford dealer did step in and offer to take over the dealership. He offered to put up over 1.7 million dollars for it but Ford turned down his offer. That's why I think Calhoun sold the rights to this dealership back to Ford knowing it would be shut down and never reopened. I also think Cross-Roads and Paramount had a hand in this deal also.

[mcdowell taxpayer]

this may be true but the dealership had liabilities from the bad debts occurring and continuing new loans just to keep the business open and running for payroll and floor-plan purposes. simply buying the rights for the dealership is not the only thing Ford Motor Co. would be looking at.

i don't doubt that Crossroads and Paramount wanted it closed as well but the Marion location had been run in the ground, that's the main reason Ford Motor wanted out and to wash their hands of it, i think.

[colormeblue]

mcdowell taxpayer wrote:

this may be true but the dealership had liabilities from the bad debts occurring and continuing new loans just to keep the business open and running for payroll and floor-plan purposes. simply buying the rights for the dealership is not the only thing Ford Motor Co. would be looking at.
i don't doubt that Crossroads and Paramount wanted it closed as well but the Marion location had been run in the ground, that's the main reason Ford Motor wanted out and to wash their hands of it, i think.

Legendary had sold more vehicles than Cross-Roads every month for a year. It had a much better reputation for service. Hell half the sales staff at Legendary came from Cross-Roads. I don't know much about Paramount so I won't comment on them. But if they needed a new sales manager things could not have been going to good for them. If Charlie Kaylor ends up there I can see their sales improving. Charlie is a good salesman who will draw many of his former McDowell County friends and customers to Valdese in spite of Tommy Calhoun.

[booboowil]

Like booboowil said it will all come out so here its starting to com

[1234rdjm]

mcdowell taxpayer wrote:

this may be true but the dealership had liabilities from the bad debts occurring and continuing new loans just to keep the business open and running for payroll and floor-plan purposes. simply buying the rights for the dealership is not the only thing Ford Motor Co. would be looking at.
i don't doubt that Crossroads and Paramount wanted it closed as well but the Marion location had been run in the ground, that's the main reason Ford Motor wanted out and to wash their hands of it, i think.

Legendary Ford had NO NEW LOANS! The only thing Legendary Ford owed for was the mortgage. I have a great idea. Why don't you people stick to discussing something you KNOW ABOUT. You don't have a clue what you are talking about