Economy puts luxury dealership out of business
Norm Baker Motor Co. has closed its used luxury-car dealership at 6175 W. Sahara Ave. and put the 3-acre property up for sale, owner Heath Caldwell said Wednesday.
The inventory of some 60 luxury and exotic automobiles, valued at more than $300 million, has gone back to the bank, he said. Recent sales at Norm Baker included a Dodge Viper for $44,500 and Mercedes-Benz C Class for $55,800.
Founded in 1977, Norm Baker Motor is one of 20 or more new and used automobile dealerships in Las Vegas to go out of business during the recession.
"The economy just got to us, and we couldn't make it work anymore," Caldwell said. "Our cars were more of a want than a real need for transportation. Vegas seems to be a tougher market than it was in the past."
Norm Baker was the exclusive Lotus dealership in Las Vegas and built a respectable reputation for its sales and service departments. Caldwell said the family-owned business certainly appreciated its employees and valued customers over the years.
David Nielson, chairman and CEO of Lindon, Utah-based Low Book Sales, said many car dealerships were highly leveraged with debt and were "ticking time bombs" when revenue dropped.
"Anytime you have a major recession, everything changes. People that don't want to change with it, they go out of business, unfortunately," Nielson said.
Selling luxury cars is a tough business model in today's economy, he said. The home equity line of credit that many consumers took out to buy that Maserati or Porsche is now gone.
Low Book Sales, Utah's largest used-car retailer, closed escrow on the former United Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership on East Sahara Avenue. Nielson would not disclose the purchase price for the 5-acre property, but said it was less than half of the loan balance.
The car dealer said he probably would have had to pay $7 million for the land and building to enter the market just a few years ago. Now he's getting the dealership for less than construction cost.
Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.
