Inventory was on Texas dealer Mitchell Dale’s mind as he prepared for Hurricane Laura. He moved 200 vehicles at his McRee Ford store in Dickinson to higher ground ahead of the storm and said last week that the scarcity and cost of vehicles determined which models were moved inside or to other locations. For instance: Super Duty pickups — “the scarcest inventory that we have,” he said, and also the highest priced — were moved into the service department to protect them from wind damage.
Dale said the dealership did not experience damage from the hurricane and reopened Friday, Aug. 28.
Employees at JK Chevrolet and JK Subaru in Nederland, Texas, parked as many vehicles inside the service department as possible and lined up additional customer vehicles and some of the stores’ inventory in rows several vehicles deep alongside the building to protect against wind damage, said Daylyn Turner, vice president of operations at both stores and general manager at JK Subaru.
Inventory has been tight, especially at the Chevrolet store, Turner said. He said he evacuated prior to the storm and had not heard of extensive damage to the stores, adding that he hoped the dealerships could reopen by Monday, Aug. 31, depending on whether electricity is restored. “We’re very fortunate with this particular storm, but it hasn’t fared out that well in the past, so you always have to be on the safe side,” he said. “You can’t ever control what these things do.”
