Barrington dealership takes over closed neighbor

Proving that not all economic news is bad these days, an existing auto dealership in Barrington has taken over the product line of a recently closed neighbor.

Wickstrom Ford Lincoln Mercury at 660 W. Northwest Highway will now also house Wickstrom Chrysler Jeep Dodge. Champion Chrysler Jeep Dodge at 505 W. Northwest Highway closed suddenly in late October, citing the weak economy.

Colin Wickstrom, who operates both businesses along with his father and brother, said the takeover of the closed dealership's product took only two weeks to progress from idea to reality.

"Overall, we've been in this community for 25 years, our family," Wickstrom said. "We've found the clientele to be very loyal around here. There's still people buying cars."

In fact, Wickstrom said sales at his family's Ford Lincoln Mercury dealership have actually been higher in November 2008 than they were in November 2007.

Though his business is not buying the nearby building Champion Chrysler Jeep Dodge used, Wickstrom feels the amount of product sold and sales tax generated will be at least as high as when both locations were in operation.

Barrington Village President Karen Darch said the village was extremely pleased by the news that it's essentially retaining the same number of car dealerships it had before.

"We're absolutely delighted," Darch said.

Though the former Champion building is remaining vacant for the time being, Darch believes it holds the potential to house another new business in the future while the community is losing nothing of what it had before in the meantime.

In terms of budgeting for the year ahead, however, the village is remaining just as cautious about its overall sales tax expectations as it was before, Darch said.