Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 2, 1991 TAG: 9103020254
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A decline in auto sales last month prompted heavy layoffs by car manufacturers.
Friday's move marks the first bankruptcy filing by a major Roanoke Valley auto dealer in nearly a decade, when Frank Meador Buick and Ray Dobbins Lincoln-Mercury asked for court protection in the recession of the early 1980s
Auto dealers in Roanoke Valley and the nation have been in a slump for more than a year. Last year's valley car sales of 7,377 units dropped 13.3 percent from 1989.
The 1990 total was down almost 31 percent from the decade high of 10,671 units in 1986.
The company, started in 1982, is owned by J. Curtis Allred Sr. Neither Allred nor his lawyer were available for comment Friday.
Court papers said Allred is considering filing for personal bankruptcy as well.
He reported debts of $3,319,378, slightly more than his assets of $3,310,221.
His 20 largest unsecured creditors placed claims of $365,276. The largest claim was by Crestar Bank for $51,920. In all, 388 creditors have filed claims against Allred in the court.
Allred, a native of McCormick, S.C., has been in the auto business for about 15 years. He worked for a Greensboro dealer six years before he bought the Chevrolet dealership in Salem from Hayward Statum.
In 1985, Allred moved to a new $1 million building on Virginia 419 near Interstate 81.
The company's work force had almost doubled to 50 people at that time. The business was an outgrowth of the former Goodwin Chevrolet which operated on West Main Street in Salem.
by CNB