Coronavirus slows vehicle sales; area dealerships adapt to changes

Have you taken a look lately at some of the car dealership lots in Cape Girardeau?

If you think you saw fewer vehicles on the lots than normal, you're right.

I contacted several local dealerships last week to ask why their vehicle inventories seemed low and learned its partly by design and partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Most all automotive manufacturers stopped their production lines for six or more weeks," Bob Neff of Ford Groves told me.

Supply chains, Bob said, were interrupted as many parts suppliers temporarily closed due to the coronavirus.

"The average car has 30,000 parts," Bob explained, "and even the suppliers have suppliers. Every one of them was impacted. The timing and logistics of having all the right parts from all the suppliers to keep the lines going is insanely complicated during normal times, (so) imagine trying to figure it out now!"

Ford Groves, Bob said, didn't feel the impact of the production shutdown right away because it had a two-to-three month supply of vehicles on hand.

"So far we're selling about what we were last year, but it's getting tougher to do," Bob said. Fewer new car sales also meant fewer trade-ins as well.

The worst, he said, is hopefully over.

"We're seeing the transport trucks again," he said. "We're told each week will get a little better."

Tim Coad of Coad Chevrolet and Coad Toyota said dealers had "great inventories and great incentives" in April, May and June, which helped move existing stock and reduced dealership inventories.

"In June, and certainly in July, we experienced our lowest levels possible," he told me. "We're waiting to get stocked back up. It will take until September to see the usual levels of inventories."

The pandemic, Tim said, has not only posed challenges in terms of vehicle sales, but also in the parts and service departments of his and other dealerships.

"Our staff has had to deal with so many obstacles. Parts may not be available and, if so, maybe not all of what we need is available and shipping is taking longer," he said. "But our customers are the best. Everyone understands these times are not normal and we appreciate our customers and our employees working together."

Tim said he thinks inventory levels will be back to normal in a couple of months when 2021 models start arriving.

John Sinclair of John Sinclair Nissan has been in the automobile sales and service business for more than 40 years and followed his dad into the business. (As a kid growing up in Chester, Illinois, I can remember watching commercials on KPLR-TV out of St. Louis featuring John's dad, "Dave Sinclair, the South County Ford dealer.")

I had a cup of coffee with John last week and he told me the COVID-19 pandemic has probably led to more changes in automobile sales than anything else in decades.

"It has changed our business and, knock on wood, I think it's changed it for the better," John said. "We actually sold more used cars in March and May than we had the year before."

One reason for the sales increase, he said, is that his dealership found ways to streamline the car buying process and adapted to a growing number of car buyers who were shopping for vehicles online.

Just as more and more people are shifting their shopping habits for all kinds of household goods, John said a growing number of people are relying on the internet to buy a car.

In addition to online listings and photos of vehicles, John said his sales staff began offering "virtual" test drives.

"Two of our sales people would be in the car, one of them would drive and the other would video the test drive," he said. "People today are very 'click-click.' They want to see the videos of the vehicles."

By offering online sales, John told me, dealerships are able to overcome concerns of some car shoppers who are worried about buying a vehicle -- new or used -- during the pandemic.

"Some people say, 'I want to look at a car, but COVID's got us nervous,' and we can say, 'No problem,'" John said.

Vehicle inventory at the Sinclair dealership is somewhat lower than it has been in the past, but John said that's partly by design because fewer cars on the lot means less capital is tied up in unsold vehicles.

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Several tracts of land along South Mount Auburn Road in front of Hampton Inn are begin prepared for future development. The site was once occupied by the Plaza Conference Center, which was removed from the site last year.Jay Wolz

Dirt work is underway on both sides of Mount Auburn Road south of William Street in Cape Girardeau.

On the west side of the street, bulldozers and earth movers have been busy preparing a couple parcels of land in front of Hampton Inn for future development. The site is the former location of the Plaza Conference Center, which was dismantled last year.

Diane Drury of Midamerica Hotels told me last week there are no specific plans for the site at this time and it may be several years before the property is developed.

Meanwhile, across the street, foundation work has begun at the future site of the new Chili's restaurant, according to Adrienne Henry of Drury Southwest, which owns the property that was formerly occupied by O'Charley's.

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Plans for a new senior living development along Bloomfield Road west of Cape Girardeau, to be known as Ramsay's Run, have been put on "pause," according to Keith Boeller, president and CEO of Chateau Girardeau.

It was announced in 2016 that Chateau Girardeau was working with Dalhousie LLC to acquire property adjacent to the Dalhousie Golf Course for the senior housing development. However, Boeller told me Friday the project has been postponed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's not off," he said, "it's just suspended at this point."

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Another West Park Mall tenant is closing.

According to published reports, "tween" retailer Justice is closing more than 600 of its stores in the United States, including its West Park Mall location, as part of the bankruptcy of its parent company, Ascena Retail Group.

Ascena, which is based in New Jersey, filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday and plans to convert Justice to a mostly "online platform," according to court records.

In addition to Justice (which was once known as Limited Too), Ascena also operates Lane Bryant, Catherines, Ann Taylor, Loft, Lou & Grey and Cacique retail outlets and expects to close about 1,600 of its 2,800 stores.

No word at this point about when the Justice outlet in Cape Girardeau will close. In addition to the store in West Park Mall, 14 other Justice locations in Missouri are targeted for closure.

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Brenda Johnson

Two notable retirements were announced last week that I'd like to acknowledge. They provided a combined 77 years of service to their respective employers and the public.

Shirley Krueger

Brenda Johnson is retiring after 38 years with Saint Francis Healthcare System. I worked with Brenda for several years in the 1980s and 1990s when I was assistant marketing director at Saint Francis. Over the years, Brenda filled several clinical and administrative roles at the hospital.

Meanwhile, Cape Girardeau County's chief deputy recorder of deeds, Shirley Krueger, retired last week after 39 years of service to the county. Shirley's last day in the recorder's office was Friday.

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