Downey Toyota

Downey Toyota Closes Its Doors: Downey Toyota, hit by the recession, has closed after apparently failing to reorganize under the protection of Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Act, Downey city officials said. In operation for more than 25 years, the dealership closed its doors Friday, about two weeks after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Owners Thomas C. Watts III and Richard C. Watts could not be reached for comment.

Downey Car Dealership Goes Out of Business: Paramount Chevrolet, hit by slumping sales during the recession, has gone out of business after more than 50 years of selling cars and trucks in Downey. It was the second dealership in Downey to close this month because of financial difficulties. Downey Toyota shut its doors Sept. 13 after a failed attempt to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Act.

A handful of workers moved about the defunct Downey Toyota dealership earlier this week, attending to the final details of their jobs before filing for unemployment benefits and seeking work elsewhere. There had been word of financial problems for weeks, but the more than 100 employees of Downey Toyota were still shocked when the dealership shut its doors last Friday after more than 25 years of operation.

A handful of workers moved about the defunct Downey Toyota dealership earlier this week, attending to the final details of their jobs before filing for unemployment benefits and seeking work elsewhere. There had been word of financial problems for weeks, but the more than 100 employees of Downey Toyota were still shocked when the dealership shut its doors last Friday after more than 25 years of operation.

Toyota said it intends to replace the defunct Downey Toyota dealership, a development that could preserve hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales-tax revenue to the city of Downey and prevent cuts in city services. "Toyota will have a dealer there," said John Matt, Los Angeles regional manager for Toyota Motor Distributor Inc., the car manufacturer's distribution arm in Southern California. "We're quite confident that will occur." For Downey officials, that can't happen too soon.

A memorial service will be held Sunday for Thomas C. Watts Jr., the longtime owner of Downey Toyota. Watts, 67, who had abdominal cancer, died last Saturday morning at his Fullerton residence, said his son, Richard C. Watts. The memorial service will begin at 2 p.m. in the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. Born in Poland, Ohio, Watts opened his first auto dealership in 1946. He established his Toyota dealership in Downey in 1965.

The recession took another whack at Downey as slumping sales forced the closure of a second major auto dealership this month. Paramount Chevrolet shut its doors last week after doing business for more than 50 years on Firestone Boulevard. The closure left about 90 people without jobs and the city with about $200,000 less in annual sales-tax revenue to pay for municipal services.

Hit by the loss of two major auto dealerships in the past month, the Downey City Council has decided to spend $10,000 to develop a marketing campaign to boost the sales of the city's 10 remaining dealerships. City officials took quick action Tuesday night, fearing that the back-to-back failures of Downey Toyota and Paramount Chevrolet have tarnished Downey's reputation as one of the premier automobile marketplaces in the Los Angeles area. That could lead to more closings.

One of Downey's largest auto dealers is scheduled to lose his land and building in a foreclosure sale today, but the owner of Nissan of Downey hopes that his troubled dealership will continue to be a fixture on Firestone Boulevard. Carmen Koosa, the dealership owner, is unable to pay off a $750,000 loan from the Sisters of the Company of Mary Our Lady, a Roman Catholic teaching order, because of slumping car sales.

The City Council has approved a $150,000 grant to an auto agency in a move to shore up Downey's struggling auto row. The grant was made to Simpson Buick to build a showroom for an Oldsmobile dealership at 8400 Firestone Blvd. Simpson Buick obtained the franchise that was held by Sopp Oldsmobile before it closed a year ago. In the past year and a half the city has also lost Sopp Mitsubishi, Downey Toyota and Paramount Chevrolet.

It seemed like plans for a South Gate auto mall were off to a smooth start last summer. City officials found a 35-acre site along the Long Beach Freeway and had no problem attracting auto dealers who were eager to move to a prime freeway location. But more than a year later, the proposed South Gate auto mall appears even further away, and a string of Southeast area auto dealers say they are uncertain where their dealerships will ultimately land.