Click Leaves Business With Sale of 16 Stores to Gee Automotive
Jim Click Jr., founder of Jim Click Automotive Team and co-owner of Tuttle-Click Automotive Group, has agreed to sell the groups’ 10 Southern Arizona dealerships and six Southern California stores to Gee Automotive of Liberty Lake, Wash., the companies announced.
The deal includes Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Ford, Lincoln, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda and Nissan franchises employing about 900 executives, managers and staff, all of whom are expected to be retained. Gee’s footprint grows to 42 rooftops in five Western states.
Tucson.com’s Charles Borla notes Click, a third-generation dealer, bought his first dealership in Tucson in 1971 after starting in sales at his great-uncle Holmes Tuttle’s Los Angeles Ford store. Click moved to Arizona sight unseen for the opportunity. Over the next 55 years, he would become a pillar of the Tucson community.
“Jim Click’s not going anywhere,” he told reporters in response to a question about retirement plans. “… My main goal now is to share some of this money that we’ve earned with our community, and with my children. … I hope to teach them it’s worth it to give back. Hopefully it won’t take me very long.”
