Rick Case Automotive Group has sold its two Ohio dealerships to focus on its stores in metro Atlanta and South Florida.
Rita Case, CEO of the company based in Sunrise, Fla., said the dealership group this week sold Rick Case Hyundai-Genesis of Cleveland and Rick Case Honda in Euclid, Ohio, to growing Spitzer Management Inc., led by Chairman Alan Spitzer. Terms weren’t disclosed.
Rita Case said she and husband Rick talked over the decision to sell the Ohio dealerships, the group’s oldest locations and the farthest away from company headquarters, before his death from cancer in September. It was integral to find a like-minded buyer in the market, she said, and she reached out directly to Spitzer, who didn’t have a Honda or Hyundai store in his portfolio.
“It was really important to us that we found a buyer that was family-owned and -operated like we were to both take care of our customers, to take care of our associates and to do the right thing for the Honda and the Hyundai brand, which we are so loyal to,” Case, the group’s longtime COO prior to her husband’s death, told Automotive News.
Rick Case founded his dealership empire with a lone used-car store in Akron, Ohio, in 1962 and added a Toyota store in 1966 before moving the family to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 1985. Rick Case Automotive will continue to operate 14 dealerships in Georgia and Florida.
“The Atlanta, Ga., and the South Florida dealerships are not for sale, and my intentions are to run those dealerships as CEO and to continue to promote Rick’s legacy,” Rita Case said. Rick Case focused on building the group’s stores to become the No. 1 dealership for both volume and customer satisfaction in the country for the brands they represent, she added.
