My Dealership Left San Francisco

December 15th was a sad day for some San Franciscans as longtime auto dealer Ellis Brooks ceased selling new cars (they'll still sell used vehicles). I remember being a young child, visiting San Francisco and checking out all the new car dealers on Van Ness Avenue. My family thought they were getting a deal because they were saving the cost of amusement park tickets while I milled around the showrooms and I was having a great time sitting in the cars: everybody won!

New car dealerships are disappearing at a rapid pace. Peter Welch, president of the California Motor Car Dealers Association, said California lost 116 dealerships in the first 11 months of 2008 and has just over 1,500 new-vehicle dealerships left. He believes closures will total 150 by year end and predicts as many as 500 closings in 2009. "We had only 20 dealers close in all of last year," said Welch. "But that's accelerating. We had 17 go down in the month of November.

Sad days indeed.