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VESTAL - In November, Matthews Auto Group, Inc. opened its sixth location at 3512 Birney Ave. in Moosic, Pa., about six miles south of Scranton.
The dealership features "Planet PreOwned," a trademark of Matthews Auto Group for its used cars. Moosic is the third used-car location for Matthews, in addition to the firm's Norwich and Vestal stores. It is the family-owned business's first venture into the Pennsylvania market.
Matthews Auto Group bought the property that was formerly the Santo Volvo/lincoln dealership. In 2013, the former owner sold off the Volvo franchise to the Pollock Auto Group, and in 2011 it had sold the Lincoln franchise back to Ford.
"We bought a 20,000-square-foot building on 2.8 acres of land," says Rob Matthews, president of Matthews Auto Group. "It was a turnkey operation. The only thing we had to change was the signage." Matthews did not reveal the purchase price or any financing details, but did announce the creation of 15 new jobs, which he projects to grow to 40 employees within two years.
Headquartered at 3721 Vestal Road, Matthews Auto Group now boasts six locations with 10 franchises, including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, KIA, Mazda, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Ford, and Lincoln. "The company is the largest dealer group in a two-county area," says Matthews. "With the Moosic deal, we now have 200 employees and project $200 million in annual revenue ... The retail side of the business is 40 percent [of our revenue] ... from new-car sales and 60 [percent] from used-car sales. This year, we will sell 5,700 cars ... Our dealerships cover 115,000 square feet [of building space], and we need 30 acres to accommodate our staff and vehicles." Matthews Auto Group is a sub-S corporation with five siblings as stockholders. Each location has its own real-estate company.
That's a long way from the 2,200 cars sold and $60 million in revenue when Matthews joined the family business in 2005. His late father, Jim Matthews, was a legendary entrepreneur who migrated from Ontario, Canada to the Binghamton area. He founded Matco Electric in 1965 and went on to create businesses in manufacturing, insurance, real-estate development, publishing, and brought the first professional hockey team to the area. His venture into autos was accidental.
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