Another blow for the Prince Rupert commercial sector; as MacCarthy GM retrenches operations to Terrace

The showroom at MacCarthy Motors in the Yellowhead Centre
the lights will be turned off at the end of this month as the 
local GM dealership ceases its Prince Rupert operations

A Monday morning announcement from MacCarthy GM delivered some tough economic news for the community heading towards a new year, with the local auto dealership which has operated in the city since 2012 announcing that it will close its Prince Rupert operations as of the end of December.

The move by the General Motors franchisee in the city, which follows a similar consolidation into Terrace for Port City Ford back in 2015, leaves Prince Rupert with just one remaining Big Three North American automaker in town, that being Rainbow Chrysler.

The announcement, posted to the MacCarthy GM Facebook page, does not specifically mention any details for the move to cease operations in the city, but notes of the tough decision made by the ownership.

The closure will bring to an end a long running association between General Motors and Prince Rupert which dates back to the days of before Atom Motors, following a brief lull Sherman GM returned the national brand to the community, with MacCarthy taking on the operation eight years ago, refurbishing their showroom and operations a few years later in 2015.

At one time Prince Rupert's Yellowhead centre area was a thriving auto mall, featuring all of the major North American auto dealers, along with a Volkswagen dealership downtown rounding out a much larger scale of options than we have today. 

In addition to the unfortunate loss of jobs and livelihoods that will come with the closure of the doors on December 31st, the community too will lose a strong advocate for community causes.

Over the years, MacCarthy GM has been quite active with charity, sponsorship of events and other activities of benefit to the community, such is the impact that these closures bring to the region.

The closure also means that many of their customers will now have to take the ninety minute drive to Terrace for service or warranty work, an enjoyable trek in the summer, not so much into the teeth of a North Coast winter.

The departure of another large national presence highlights the ongoing challenges facing the community in retaining local shopping and service providers and comes amid talk of a hopeful rebirth for the city's commercial sector from City Council in recent weeks.

More notes on business themes across the northwest can be found from our archive page here.