Alex Feldman and Michael Gitlevich were told by a broker that a manufacturer would never approve them as buyers of an automotive franchise, as neither had ever run a dealership.
Fortunately, that prediction was wrong. They believed in themselves and, with the help of, ironically, someone else from the same brokerage, Feldman and Gitlevich are now owners of a Chevrolet GMC store in Sullivan, Indiana, 90 miles southwest of Indianapolis.
Feldman is the dealer principal and Gitlevich is an investor.
Obtaining approval from General Motors to acquire the former Sullivan Chevrolet GMC was perhaps made easier by the fact that the store’s general manager was arrested for theft and forgery and in early August was convicted and sentenced to six years in jail.
“The store that we’re buying was so underperforming and in a bad situation that they just wanted them out,” Feldman said of the manufacturer.
The dealership was in a "distressed financial situation," he said.
The path to ownership
Feldman has a background in commercial real estate and e-commerce but, like many first time owners, said he has always liked the car industry. So, when his good friend Gitlevich, who had worked at dealerships and was steeped in inventory acquisition knowledge, mentioned he was tired of working for others and wanted to own a store, “I said, ‘Let’s buy a store!’” Feldman said.
Their lack of experience as a general manager running a dealership worked against them, however. Brokers he talked with lost interest because of their backgrounds, Feldman told WardsAuto on a Zoom call.
Then, Bob Wolfbauer, a broker with the Tim Lamb Group, introduced them to Barry Merrill, who had owned dealerships in the past but sold them in 2021. Merrill was to be the secret sauce, an experienced general manager to run the dealership.
Then, according to Feldman, the broker decided they still lacked credentials to get approved, “and basically ghosted us.”
Wolfbauer did not reply to an email asking for comment.
The idea he couldn’t get approved just made him more determined, Feldman said. He figured with Merrill in the picture, manufacturer approval was going to happen. So, he started calling brokers again. One of them was Tim Wild, who also worked at the Tim Lamb Group.
He and Feldman had some “early conversations” back in 2023, Wild told WardsAuto in a text, but Wild didn’t have any good acquisition prospects for Feldman at the time. They reconnected this year.
Wild suggested they try to acquire the Sullivan Group stores, which consisted of the Chevrolet GMC dealership and a Stellantis store. It was “an ideal strategic and financial fit,” Wild told WardsAuto.
The last buyer had been approved by Stellantis but turned down by General Motors, Feldman said. “So, we submitted the LOI and started this whole process” to acquire the dealerships, he said.
At this point, on the recommendation of a friend, Feldman and Gitlevich contacted Biltmore Automotive Services. It is not a brokerage; they refer to themselves as consultants, Tim Devine, a partner at the firm, told Wards Auto on a Zoom call.
Biltmore helps first-time buyers navigate the acquisition process, only getting paid if the deal closes.
Buying a dealership can be daunting. “There’s a million little things to do,” Devine said. For first-timers, “We try to protect them from all the landmines they might face,” he said.
Feldman and Gitlevich had “negotiated a heck of a deal, and then it was just trying to get them through the process, because they had never been through the process before,” Devine said.
Biltmore was confident they would be approved by the manufacturers, Devine said. Gitlevich had “a pretty extensive automotive background working for big groups up in Chicago,” Devine said. Meanwhile, Feldman had an entrepreneurial mindset and “knows how to turn a business around, so it’s a pretty good pairing,” he said.
Devine was half right. General Motors did approve the pair to acquire the Chevrolet GMC franchises. Stellantis did not approve their acquisition of the Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram store because, according to Feldman, Merrill was not an owner, only the general manager.
They acquired what is now known as Auto Exchange Chevrolet GMC on July 7.
The turnaround
The Chevy GMC building is image compliant, so that’s one hurdle the new owners didn’t need to clear. But just about everything else in the dealership needs a makeover, Feldman said.
They kept all the sales staff and will be adding more. The salespeople now have inventory to actually sell. Gitlevich’s background in inventory acquisition was useful, and within three weeks, they had 150 vehicles to sell, Feldman said.
They are adding a Business Development Center manager, a quick lube technician and more service technicians, and they’ve already hired several more porters, he said.
“We gave everybody raises,” Feldman said.
They will be building a car wash on the lot to offer free washes to customers who buy from them as well as use it for the service department to clean up vehicles, he said.
As for the Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership, which is next to the Chevrolet GMC store, Stellantis decided to close the point, Feldman said. He and Gitlevich will be turning an older building behind the CDJR store into a truck service center focusing on fleets. “We just ordered two heavy-duty lifts,” Feldman said.
Future acquisitions
The Chevrolet GMC dealership is owned by Auto Exchange Group, and Feldman and Gitlevich want to acquire more franchises. A Ford franchise is his number one priority, Feldman said. After that, he’d like a Kia or Hyundai franchise.
“Honda and Toyota are, I think, out of my reach now, but maybe in the future that’s a possibility,” Feldman said.
