A daring expansion in a dangerous economy

It is human nature to run from danger, to seek shelter when a storm approaches.Yet there are always a few -- the courageous, the gamblers, the crazies — who run toward trouble. They look at a world in chaos and see opportunity and a clear path for bold action.The Great Recession made most of those who survived better dealers. But it made Blaise Alexander great.Alexander, now 70, is president of Blaise Alexander Family Dealerships in tiny Muncy, Pa., near the center of the state. He leaned hard into the recession, zigging as others zagged and buying as others sold.And it made him a fortune."I've been through about four recessions since 1971 when I started as a manager" in a Chevrolet dealership in nearby State College, Pa., Alexander said. "These things come and go, and every situation is different. But if you're going to buy stores or expand your business, the time to do it is in the downturns."A decade ago, Alexander's empire was a lot smaller than today's 29 franchises spread across 18 rooftops.Heading into the recession, the group had eight rooftops, all in north-central Pennsylvania, with Chevrolet, Pontiac, GMC, Toyota and Nissan represented, along with a Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram store that he had acquired in 2007 in State College. As the storm clouds darkened over his factory partners in Detroit, Alexander's dealerships were all financially stable, with strong balance sheets and high customer and service satisfaction scores.Blaise AlexanderTitle then: PresidentDealership group: Blaise Alexander Family DealershipsWhere: Muncy, Pa.Survival strategy: Over-order vehicles going into the recession, setting the stage for rapid growth afterward"We were in a nice, comfortable situation. The dealerships were making good, average money, and we were feeling good about where we were in business," the silver-maned Alexander said. "That's when our problems started."In late 2008, "our bank that had our floorplan was taken over by Santander, and Santander at the time wanted no part of the car business," Alexander said. "Our first objective was to get out of that bank and into another bank, but it got harder and harder to talk to any bank."When January 2009 rolled around, General Motors and Chrysler — representing half of Alexander's dealerships — were facing potential bankruptcy and he was still hunting for a replacement floorplan lender."So simultaneously we're juggling two balls here. We're trying to decide how we're going to get into another bank, and what we're going to do in this recession: Are we going to pull our horns in and stop ordering cars and go dark? We had two big decisions, and one of them, we couldn't even address because the banks wouldn't even return our calls," Alexander said.In late January, Alexander went to the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in New Orleans."I started talking to some dealers, and the majority of the dealers I talked to were very, very pessimistic. They were in retreat," Alexander said. "That was the error of the whole NADA that year." But there was one bright light: hearing Jim Press in the Chrysler dealer meeting. "He was so emphatic, so adamant that we were going to get through this thing, and I left that meeting believing him, and believing in him."Alexander did a little figuring in the convention center hallways. To "satisfy my promise to Jim Press," Alexander had to order 35 additional vehicles — a giant commitment for a small dealership with a typical inventory of just 70 vehicles. Oldsmobile lessons

A daring expansion in a dangerous economy

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