Longtime Ford dealership leaving Villa Park
After nearly 20 years in Villa Park, Oakfield Ford, one of the town's largest car dealerships, closed Friday.
"It's unfortunate that we couldn't keep its owners Mr. (Jack) Cronan and Mr. (John) Schreiber here," Village President Joyce Stupegia said. "It will be quite a loss to Villa Park in revenue."
In 1996, when Villa Park faced losing Oakfield, village officials said the dealership was among its top five sales tax revenue generators, bringing in an estimated $250,000 a year to tax coffers.
Cronan and Schreiber lobbied the village to agree to a 10-year sales-tax rebate deal, totaling roughly $1 million.
Oakfield Ford, 433 E. St. Charles Road, used the money to buy adjacent land to expand the dealership and remain in Villa Park.
That deal ended this year.
Oakfield's owners will take over a Ford dealership in Woodstock, as part of a national consolidation program run by Ford Motor Co., said Lee Schreiber, son of Oakfield owner, John.
"It's been a gut-wrenching decision," Schreiber said.
It's also a decision that could leave the village in an odd position, Stupegia said, since the village's budget includes anticipated Oakfield revenue.
Still, looking back on the rebate agreement, Stupegia said: "It was a good investment at the time because they might have left otherwise. No village wants to lose a car dealership."
In addition to the loss of sales-tax dollars, about 50 Oakfield employees have had to find new jobs, including Paul Degrassi of Lemont.
Before coming to Oakfield a year ago, Degrassi worked at a dealership in Lombard for 15 years.
"A year ago, this same thing happened to me at Westgate Lincoln Mercury," Degrassi said. "I was out of work for six months."
Westgate Lincoln Mercury, formerly located at 500 E. Roosevelt Road, closed after a 50-year run under different names and at different locations in Lombard.
As part of the Villa Park rebate agreement, Oakfield's owners own the site of their former dealership.
Stupegia said village officials already have been contacted by developers interested in bringing condominiums and retail stores to the property.