SALISBURY — Yesterday was a hard day for Chris Fraser, but he stood composed as auctioneer John McInnis sold off every single item belonging to the business that had been in his family since 1924.
About 100 people gathered in what was once the showroom of Fraser Automotive on Route 1 for a bankruptcy auction of the family's former car dealership. More than 10 of those people came with the $15,000 certified check required to get in on the bidding for the more than 15,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art building set on 3.76 acres of prime commercial land fronting Bridge Road. The property is assessed at almost $1.8 million, according to town records.
"One thing's for sure," McInnis told the crowd before he called for the opening bid. "Someone's going to get a good property today."
For about 20 minutes, offers bounced back and forth between a handful of bidders — including Provident Bank, which holds the mortgages on the property. But by 11:30 a.m., McInnis gaveled down the winning bid of $975,000 from Steve Larouche of Westford. Larouche would not comment on the purchase or his plans for the property.
After a short break, McInnis would go on to sell hundreds of items inside the dealership that was turned into an automotive center in recent years. One by one, the contents — from file cabinets to transmission jacks and engine hoists, used cars and GM repair manuals to wall art — were sold to high bidders.
Everything is gone now, part of the Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy liquidation filed in April by Fraser, who said he hung on as long as he could during a terrible economy, especially for the automotive industry.
Fraser, 55, said he has made his peace with the bankruptcy he was forced to pursue. But selling vehicles wasn't just a retail job for him. The third-generation "car guy" has a passion for the automobiles and trucks he's sold and serviced for most of his adult life.
"If we had a little deeper pockets, we could have hung on a little longer," Fraser, of Rowley, said in an interview during yesterday's auction. "We were going well, had some very good months, and we were making a name for ourselves in a positive way.
"It's been very hard because we had some wonderful customers who told me they were heartbroken when they heard about this."
What led to "this," he said, was a perfect storm of negative factors that overrode what was a new and, what many believed, solid concept in servicing motorists' automotive needs — a business model that encompassed used car sales, repair service and rental car availability all at one clean, attractive, friendly location.
But when Fraser had his property reappraised this winter, his heart sank. He learned its value had dropped by almost 50 percent and realized his major asset was no longer worth more than he owed.
"When I got into this, I always thought we'd work hard for a number of years, pay down our debt and begin to make a profit, and we were doing that," Fraser said. "Before this recent appraisal, I always thought if I ran into problems, I could sell out and with what I'd get, I could pay off all our debt. With the new appraisal, I realized that wasn't the case anymore."
A combination of the poor economy, plummeting real estate values and sluggish market, outstanding loans to the Provident Bank and U.S. Small Business Administration, as well as a 15-year-old, big-ticket liability for a portion of Beede Waste Oil Company's Environmental Protection Agency Superfund cleanup site in Plaistow, N.H., hanging over his head just got to be too much, he said.
The writing was on the balance sheets. Fraser swallowed hard and called the bankruptcy attorney.
The Fraser legacy
Fraser Automotive was the last chapter in a business Fraser's grandfather, Robert B. Fraser, founded 87 years ago with his GM dealership on Market Street in Amesbury. His sons, Robert F. and Lester Fraser, followed him into the business, selling new Pontiacs, GMC vehicles.
In 1990, when Robert F. Fraser became ill, his son, Chris Fraser, took over, selling cars for GM, and driving them, too. Chris Fraser's first car out of college was Pontiac's famed and flashy Firebird Trans Am.
When Salisbury's Buick dealer Bob Walters wanted to retire in 2002, Chris Fraser bought his 114 Bridge Road, Salisbury, dealership site and moved his family business over the line, consolidating his franchise.
In 2006, Chris Fraser modernized and built the large, two-story back building on his Bridge Road property that housed a multi-bay repair shop at a cost of $1.1 million.
Things went well for Fraser and the popular GM brands for a while, but in 2007, Fraser noticed sales were off significantly. When the car industry really hit the skids in 2008, Fraser, after discussing the situation with his manufacturer's representative, sold his new car franchise back to GM, something not often done.
But Fraser had a new idea. He created an automotive center to cater to car owners' every need, including concierge repair service for all makes and models, stylish waiting rooms, pickup and delivery service, and even free loaners. He coupled that with selling quality used cars and even leased space to Enterprise Rent-a-Car for those who needed longer-term loaners.
Fraser put together a one-stop car shop that should have worked, most believe, if the economy hadn't crashed like cars in a 70-mph, head-on collision.
Fraser can smile now as he talks frankly about what happened, with the expertise of an educated and veteran businessman. But behind the smile idles a car guy, without his cars.
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