InTouch with Southern Kentucky August 2020 | Page 18

Gambrel said his dealership, like
Don Franklin, also restocks its lot
with trade-ins and lease turn-ins.
However, that is not to say that
Gambrel and his team haven’t had
to make changes to the ways in
which they acquire vehicles to sell,
as procurement avenues such as car
auctions have been cancelled.
“We’re like everybody else,
inventory has been hard to find,”
Gambrel said. “New car dealers
are probably in a little bit better
shape for having inventory than the
independent, used-car dealers when
you look at them. New car dealers
still kind of have a little bit of a
favorability, but not a lot. I mean
you’re not overrun with them.”
As far why sales have been
extraordinarily high, Thompson
says he believes that it was the
infusion of money into the economy
by the government that helped
motivate people to buy cars.
“We had a lot of customers that
had a little extra money that they
could put down, and try to get a
payment where they wanted it,”
he explained. “It seemed like the
customers having that extra money
in their pockets, the first thing they
wanted to do was buy a vehicle.”
For now, both dealerships are
focused on maintaining healthy
rules and regulations to ensure
both the safety of their staff and
their customers. Both dealerships
have had their staff wearing masks
when interacting with customers,
even before the governor’s mask
mandate issued last week. Gambrel
Toyota, and Don Franklin also utilize
seat covers, wheel covers, gloves,
and other PPE when servicing cars
in the respective service stations.
Don Franklin Auto, which employs
over 80 people, has dedicated
two of its staff members as safety
officers. The safety officers are
responsible for policing the
dealership and enforcing its rules
and regulations.
“We actually have so many people
involved in trying to make this
work,” noted Thompson. “We’ve got
a lot of good measures in place. We
make sure that we have the cashier
that goes through the waiting
area every hour, and sprays down
everything with disinfectant,” he
later added. “We disinfect our keys
in the key room.”
Both dealerships have had to
make changes to their showrooms,
and waiting areas to help enforce
social-distancing guidelines. Both
have had to remove coffee makers,
and complimentary snacks from
their waiting rooms.
“From a small business
perspective, and I think most small
business people would tell you, I
don’t want to go back and close
down again,” Gambrel later added.
“If this is what we need to do, let’s
do it, let’s try it. It’s not a political
thing, it’s no thing at all. It’s the best
chance we’ve got looks like, so let’s
do it.”
18 • In Touch with Southern Kentucky AUGUST 2020