Property taxes spooked consumers: caused loss of 50 jobs from closing of 3rd generation Indy business

Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Norm Heikens - Indianapolis Business Journal

Bud Wolf Chevrolet going out of business

Consumer qualms about property taxes and a lingering bad rap about the quality of American cars has prompted the owners of Bud Wolf Chevrolet to close the doors. President Andy Wolf told the 50 employees of the decision Monday. The service operation closed immediately, and about 200 new and used vehicles remain to be sold.
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"With the business and the overhead, I felt this was the time to do it," Wolf said. Wolf is the third generation involved in the car business. His grandfather, Isaac "Ike" Wolf, started selling auto parts in 1913. Ike's son and Andy Wolf's father, Myron "Bud" Wolf, started selling used cars at 2701 E. Washington Street, then landed the Chevrolet dealership in 1972 and moved to 1045 Broad Ripple Ave.
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Bud Wolf Chevrolet is now at 5350 N. Keystone Ave.Bud Wolf turns 90 next month and still discusses the business but isn't active in it, Andy Wolf said.
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The dealership struggled to get customers in the door because of what Andy Wolf said was an undeserved poor reputation about American cars. Then the surge in property taxes last summer spooked some customers to the extent they were unwilling to spend money even on maintaining their cars. The Wolf family owns the five-acre site of the dealership and would like to redevelop it, Andy Wolf said.