Maguire purchases Learn Motor Company

Apr 08, 2014 at 11:25 pm by Observer-Review


Maguire purchases Learn Motor Company   ADVERTISEMENT

Maguire purchases Learn Motor Company

WATKINS GLEN—The Learn Motor Company in Watkins Glen was officially purchased by the Ithaca-based Maguire family of dealerships during the weekend. Located at 502 North Franklin St., the dealership was previously owned by Mike Learn, whose family has been selling cars in the village for more than 60 years. New Car Sales Manager Ukiah Kraus said he does not plan to change much at the dealership, adding the deal was made because Learn was “looking to get out.”
“We are not looking to change a whole lot around here as far as the service department,” Kraus said. “We are keeping all of the Learn guys around. We will let Mike go out and live the good life and we are going to try to sell some cars.”
Kraus said Maguire brought 100 cars to the lot during the weekend. He said the Maguires have  been around Ithaca for a long time and it is a family owned business. Kraus said they intend to keep all of Learn’s employees while also bringing in a few Maguire people to help run the business. He said they decided to take advantage of the opportunity in Watkins Glen in order to expand their current business.
“[Watkins Glen] is a good, small, family town,” Kraus said. “Mike has always run a fantastic business. He was looking to get out and there was an opportunity there. Mr. Maguire decided to give it a shot. It is not too far from Ithaca and we were looking to expand anyway.”
While Kraus did not disclose how much the business cost to acquire Learn Motor Company, he said he believes they should be able to do the same amount of business Learn was able to do in the village.
“Mr. Learn at one point did 40 to 60 cars a month and we think we can be right back there in not too long,” Kraus said. “There is a lot of traffic and a lot of untapped areas out here that when people need to buy a car, no matter where they are going, the way we do business [...] we really think we can pull people in.”

 

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