ST. CHARLES – The owner of the city's Toyota dealership has expanded his family's automotive sales group beyond the Tri-Cities.
Last month, the Alf family, which owns and operates St. Charles Toyota, assumed operations at the new Crystal Lake Chevrolet, said Dennis Alf, president of the St. Charles dealership.
Formerly Reichert Chevrolet, the dealership was being "wound down" by General Motors over the past few months, Alf said, meaning it was one of the hundreds of dealerships across the country selected by G.M. to be closed.
Under the leadership of the Alfs, however, G.M. has allowed the dealership to resume operations, delivering new inventory to the Crystal Lake lot for the first time in months.
Alf said his son, Steven, will serve as general manager at the Crystal Lake dealership.
"The Alfs are spending our time and money to get this one going again," Alf said. "We're hoping that we can handle both kinds of customers – those that we have traditionally worked with, who are looking for a foreign automobile, like a Toyota, or those who are looking for something domestic.
"We recognized that G.M. has a big place still in the local automotive marketplace, and we want to offer that to our customers, as well."
In addition to taking deliveries of new 2011 products from Chevrolet, Alf said his family has also invested an additional $1 million into stocking the lot with used vehicles.
Alf said he has retained most of the former employees of the Reichert dealership.
Alf said he will be content with two dealerships in the family, for now.
"I'll never say never on anything," he said. "But for now, the answer is, I'm not Bob Rohrman."
