By By Chandler Myers
Chuck Stevens Chevrolet has gone through an overhaul in the past few weeks with their parent company General Motors Corporation declaring bankruptcy and then coming out of bankruptcy.
Not only has the dealership been kept open, it also is under new ownership with Carl Smith buying Chad Bartz’s portion of the company with Chuck Stevens still the majority owner.
Smith has been in the car selling business since 1969 and apart of the General Motors family since 1972.
Smith said the main reason he bought into Chuck Stevens was because he believes in the company as well as the city.
As a part of the change in ownership, Smith is changing out the inventory of the dealership.
Smith said he wants to bring in more new cars as opposed to used models, which is what the dealership used to focus on. He added that Chuck Stevens Chevrolet can be competitive selling cars because of Atmore’s tax.
Another venture that Smith is involved in is opening a used car dealership in Flomaton.
He said that the process, which GM is heading up could open up in the next few weeks.
Smith also wants people to know he is vested in the community around Atmore.
Smith said that the majority of the employees at Chuck Stevens are residents of Atmore, which also helps the local economy. He added that he is also going to take extra interest in local athletics.
With Smith taking the reins of Atmore’s Chevrolet dealership, he said he wants people to know that he will be there personally if they have problems.