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To reduce expenses, the Spring Grove-based dealership sought out lower-cost insurance and reduced its workforce.
"It had started to turn around and sales numbers were coming back up," said Marley Gross, owner and dealer for the company.
However, in July, Ford officials informed Gross that the company was planning to close some manufacturing plants and didn't need its full contingent of franchise dealerships.
Gross' choices were to either sell the dealership to Ford or agree to accept fewer new cars from the manufacturer.
"It would have been hard to make a profit with
Gross took Ford's offer and closed his business Sept. 30 -- the first time Spring Grove has been without a Ford dealership since 1921.
"We've had people call up and want to make an appointment for service," said Betty Emenheiser, the dealership's office manager. "When we tell them that we're closed, they ask, 'what will I do now?'"
Emenheiser started working for the dealership in 1956 when the building housed Carl Beasley Ford.
The Spring Grove landmark dates back to 1921, when P. Stambaugh & Sons opened the Ford dealership, Gross said.
A few years later, Stambaugh expanded the rear of the building -- a section that would eventually house Marley Gross Ford's parts and service departments.
Throughout the 1940s, the dealership sold farm equipment out of its basement while new Ford cars and trucks filled the first-floor showroom.
In the 1950s, Carl Beasley Ford took over the business until it left in 1961, Gross said.
One year later, Pete Peterson bought the dealership and ran the business until 1971.
Roy Snyder and Gross acquired the dealership in 1972 and renamed the business Snyder and Gross Ford.
The first car Gross sold as an owner, a 1972 Ford Galaxie
"Some years later, I traded it back from the original owner," he said.
For Gross, owning his own dealership was the culmination of his then nearly 20-year career in the automobile industry.
Gross' first job in the industry was a parts manager at an area Pontiac dealership.
Over the years, he worked at various car dealers, taking positions in service, parts and sales in an effort to learn as much as he could in preparation for when he would own a dealership.
That knowledge helped Gross navigate the current recession and keep his business running at a time when many people had opted not to buy a new car.
But the current recession was not the first time Gross' dealership was forced to deal with a national economic crisis.
In 1980, the dealership saw its sales drop as interest rates soared into the double digits.
A year later, Gross bought out Snyder and changed the name of the dealership to Marley Gross Ford.
As the early 1980s recession abated, trucks began to outsell cars -- a trend that held true for most of the dealership's remaining years.
However, starting in 2006, the number of trucks sold plummeted as gas prices climbed and many business owners opted to fix their vehicles rather than shop for new models, Gross said.
"It just took a toll," he said.
Despite its cost-cutting strategies, the dealership elected to sell to Ford rather than a take hit to its inventory,
"We hate to see any business close, whether it be small or large," said Dee Kern, a volunteer with the Women's Business Club of Spring Grove. "It's many of the small businesses that keep people employed."
When it closed, the dealership employed nine full-time employees.
Aside from shipping parts back to Ford, Gross has to decide whether he will rent or sell his 88-year-old building.
Chad Stine, a vice president at Coldwell Banker Bennett Williams, said how fast the dealership can be sold depends on pricing and finding the right buyer.
"It's been a good ride," Gross said.
sadkins@ydr.com; 771-2047
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