Lincoln of Albany to Close After 88 Years
Friday, October 4th, 2013
A downtown Albany fixture for nearly 88 years, Lincoln of Albany will soon be closing its doors after agreeing in principle to sell its Lincoln franchise to Sunbelt Ford.
According to Lincoln of Albany Dealer Principal J. Banks Haley, the family-owned business recently approached Sunbelt about the purchase after experiencing a significant decline in sales over the past few years.
Haley, who took over day-to-day operations of the dealership in 2010, pointed to changes in the auto industry as the primary cause of the dealership’s struggles; more specifically, Ford’s discontinuation in the Mercury line at the end of 2010.
Mercury, which Ford began producing in 1939 as an upscale alternative to the Ford brand that was less expensive than Lincoln, accounted for the bulk of Lincoln of Albany’s sales.
