CALDWELL -- An economic hit to the city of Caldwell as another car dealership is closing shop for good.
The Larry Miller Automall announced Tuesday it will permanently close its doors next week.
Forty-seven people will lose their jobs.
Some will be fortunate enough to relocate to other dealerships in the valley, but for a city that's trying to revitalize its downtown - this is a major setback.
The closing of this store on Dec. 2 will have a larger impact than just an empty building.
"You lose a lot anytime a business leaves," said Jim Dakan, Caldwell City Council.
For the past 17 years Jim Dakan, whether as mayor or a city council member, has served Caldwell as an elected official.
For him, bringing business to Caldwell, especially its downtown, is very important.
Like the rest of us, council member Dakan found out Tuesday.
"The fact that they are having to pull back, or however they're phrasing that, is just a sign of the times, and I think we're going to see more of that before we see less," Dakan said.
The Larry Miller Automall is the second car dealership to close it's doors this fall on the boulevard.
"I don't know if there is ever a good time to do anything like this, so I know it's going to be tough, but I also know, because of the community that they're in, everyone's going to be OK. We're going to take good care of each other," said Tracy Kasper with the Caldwell Chamber of Commerce. "Because they're such a big employer, this is going to be a huge impact for us."
"It supports the hospital, it supports the college. It supports the school programs and the scouting program and all the prefial things you don't think about." said Dakan.
Dakan says this loss is not going to ruin Caldwell's plan to revitalize the city.
"We're working very diligently through our economic development programs to entice new businesses to come here," he said.
Part of that plan is a new development by the airport, and another, bringing Treasure Valley Community College downtown.
Dakan says the aesthetics of the waterway winding its way through downtown also helps with the city's goals to attract more businesses to Caldwell.
"We're going to get through all this. It's going to take several years to get through this economic crisis," said Dakan. "We are very resilient people, and we will bounce back from this."
With the loss of this business comes the loss of property taxes to the city.
Dakan says those taxes are the city's only source of income.
But, he says they are not going to raise property taxes in this economy to compensate for this loss.
So why is the Larry Miller Automall in Caldwell closing shop?
A basic economic principle -- supply and demand.
Right now there are more dealerships than are needed based on current auto sales and future predictions.
"We were one of 1,300 dealers across the nation that got letter from General Motors this year announcing our franchise agreement would be terminated at the end of 2009. Seeing as we have the GM side and Ford, Lincoln, Mercury... Ford took an opportunity to right size the Boise market and asked us if we would consider closing the point," said Scott Harding, Larry Miller Automotive.
Last month, Lithia Motors closed Chevrolet of Caldwell as part of the General Motors restructuring.
