ThisWeek CW 08/25/2011
A longtime Canal Winchester business is changing hands.
Bob McDorman confirmed Monday, Aug. 22, he has sold the business to the Cincinnati-based Jeff Wyler Automotive Family Inc. but will retain a 15-percent interest in the business as well as ownership of his famous Corvette collection.
“The best part of this deal is that it will give me a chance to clean out this office,” McDorman said.
Forty-six years worth of work and memorabilia line every inch of the office, floor to ceiling.
McDorman would not reveal the purchase price.
Bob McDorman Chevrolet first opened after McDorman purchased the Ralph Smith Chevrolet dealership in Groveport; he moved to the current location, 5885 Gender Road, in 1968.
After the sale is approved by General Motors, the dealership will be renamed Jeff Wyler Chevrolet.
McDorman said maintaining partial ownership allows him to stay involved for another four years, when he plans to retire at his 50th anniversary of being a Chevrolet dealer.
Wyler has been in business with McDorman for much of that time. He was a GM factory sales representative who provided McDorman with cars in the 1960s and 1970s.
“Originally, I worked for GM, and that was how I first met Bob,” Wyler said. “When I heard he might be getting out of the business, I called him immediately, and when I heard he wanted to retire, we agreed to have lunch. Fifteen minutes into lunch, we had a deal.”
McDorman said he had the blacktop resealed at the dealership and made sure everything was in order ahead of time so that he could “hand it over to (Wyler) on a platter.”
Marc Hellman, Chevrolet general manager for the dealership, said new car sales are up 39 percent over last year and services are up 35 percent. He anticipates the new owners will bring new capital and sales tools.
“We’re having a very good year so far; it helps that GM is making so many products that people really want right now,” Hellman said. “I think the biggest thing is that the Wyler group will provide us with capital and the tools to enable us to get to the next level of developing the business and of continued community participation.”
Wyler said he expects to invest money in some physical changes to conform to GM’s new branding standards for their showrooms, but he doesn’t expect major changes to the management structure.
“My son-in-law, Scott Bristow, is going to be the new president of the operation, but management is probably going to stay the same,” Wyler said. “However, we have to have approval by GM on that. Everyone in Canal Winchester will report to him. Eventually, the plan is that ownership will change to (Bristow) and my son, David Wyler.”
McDorman is known in Canal Winchester for his charity work, including the annual Corvette & Classic Chevy Show, which, according to McDorman, has raised over $250,000 for Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
“I believe in helping the community, the churches and charities,” he said. “I’ll spend the rest of my life continuing to do that.”
Wyler said he also believes in giving to the community and plans to continue the dealership’s tradition of giving back.
“If you’re doing business in a community, then you’re going to give back; if you don’t, then you don’t belong there,” Wyler said.
Last August, Jeff Wyler Automotive Family Inc. raised $100,000 to donate to local charities in Cincinnati, he said.
The Bob McDorman 38th Annual Corvette & Classic Chevy Show will be held from 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept 10, at the dealership, 5885 Gender Road, The event is free, but donations to Nationwide Children’s Hospital are requested.