Feld Chevrolet closes; GMAC files suit against Bridgeton dealership
The lights in Feld Chevrolet Co.’s Bridgeton showroom were on Thursday morning. Flags with the Chevrolet symbol waved outside in the air, and music blasted through outside stereos across the parking lot.
But the dealership’s lot and showroom floor were empty.
Feld Chevrolet, a longtime name in the St. Louis area, has closed its doors and faces legal action from GMAC LLC, the financing company allied with General Motors Corp. It’s uncertain why the dealership closed, and its president, Andrew S. Wolfson, could not be reached.
However, according to two lawsuits filed this week by GMAC in St. Louis County Circuit Court, problems surfaced after Wolfson shuttered the operations about a week ago. Feld was at 11200 St. Charles Rock Road.
Under security agreements between Feld Chevrolet and GMAC, the dealership can’t sell, transfer or dispose of vehicles and parts "other than in the ordinary course" of business. In a petition filed Monday, GMAC said Feld Chevrolet has closed its business and is selling the vehicles in ways that violate the agreements. GMAC said it has the right to the vehicles, which it valued at $8 million.
The filing listed 188 new vehicles — including many 2008 Chevy Equinox crossovers and 2008 Chevy Silverado pickups — as belonging to GMAC. It also said its owns 111 used vehicles that were on the dealership’s lot as of last Friday.
On Tuesday, GMAC received permission from the court to take possession of those vehicles. The lending arm’s attorney, Nelson Mitten of Clayton-based Riezman Berger P.C., would not say how many vehicles GMAC took back.
Mitten wouldn’t comment on the petition filed Monday, nor on a second lawsuit the GMAC filed Wednesday.
The second lawsuit against Feld Chevrolet also names as co-defendants Feld Investment Group L.C., Robert Tieman and Tieman’s South County Auto Center, 5745 Westwood Drive in Weldon Spring.
According to the petition, Feld Chevrolet sold 53 vehicles to Tieman or his dealership and did not give GMAC the money from the deals.
The filing also alleged that GMAC asked Tieman to surrender the vehicles, worth about $532,000, but that Tieman and his dealership "refused to comply with the demands."
Tieman did not return calls seeking comment.
GMAC spokesman Mike Stoller said the lending arm does not comment on dealer operations.
The Better Business Bureau of eastern Missouri and southern Illinois said on its website that the dealership’s membership was suspended last Friday because "the company appears to be out of business."
The Feld brand is well-known in the St freecreditreport. Louis business community.
Bridgeton Mayor Conrad Bowers said Feld Chevrolet has been "a great commercial citizen of Bridgeton" and has been up-to-date with its business-license fees and sales taxes. He could not say how much the dealership pays in sales taxes but said Feld Chevrolet’s business license fee is $50,000 per year — the maximum a business in the city can pay.
"We hate to see a business leave but, again, I would just assume the oversupply of cars" caused the closure, Bowers said. He said that, to his knowledge, Feld Chevrolet had not notified the city about the closure.
Last month the dealership laid off 20 mechanics, a representative of the union for those employees — the International Association of Machinists District 9 — told the Post-Dispatch on Aug. 15.
A month later, the dealership’s lot sits empty and padlocked. Calls made this week to the sales, parts and service phone numbers listed on Feld Chevrolet’s website were not answered.
Chuck Robinson went to Feld Chevrolet on Thursday to collect gum ball machines he owns and operates at the dealership, only to find the machines were locked inside the building. Robinson said his candy machines fund Heart 2 Heart Inc., a St. Louis nonprofit he runs.
When he collected money from the machines last week, "nobody said anything" about an imminent closing, he said.
atablac@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8140