Stadium GM in Salem was one of a number of dealers around the Valley, and the country, that had been bracing for battle over the future of their franchises.
While the automaker was planning to end the franchise agreements with hundreds of stand-alone dealerships -- like the Chevy store in rural Columbiana County later this year, it was also planning to revamp its strategy for selling the upscale Cadillac brand.
Mike Hudock, Manager of Stadium GM said the automaker "wanted to keep Cadillac in metro markets only, and they kinda felt, from what we believe, Youngstown, the Valley wasn't a metro market -- when in fact it is."
From what we've learned, the plan would have affected Stadium, as well as three other dealerships in the Mahoning and Shenango Valleys, forcing customers to Cleveland, Akron or Pittsburgh to buy their cars. But Congress stepped in and allowed arbitration for dealers who felt they'd been mistreated.
Congressman Steve LaTourette, who wrote the dealer legislation last fall, said the closings would have created a terrible ripple effect for local economies.
For Stadium the reprieve means not only will the dealership not have to cut any of its sixty or so employees, it also means the business will now move ahead with plans to build a brand new showroom in the months ahead.
In the meantime, the Chevy store in North Georgetown, which is southwest of Salem, has had no reprieve.
We spoke with the owner there Tuesday afternoon, and he's pretty much cut his ties with GM and is just selling and servicing used cars -- and he said he's happier doing it.
