PORT TOWNSEND — Courtesy Ford of Port Townsend, Jefferson County’s only full-service, new car dealership, will close its doors on Sunday.
“The reason for our decision is the current economic conditions of the area,” said John Hern, president of Poulsbo-based Courtesy Auto Group, which owns the business at the corner of state Highways 19 and 20.
“It’s not a happy situation to have to do that, but the price of gas, the economy, the ferry situation, the closing of the Hood Canal Bridge — they were all part of the decision,” Hern said Wednesday.
Many jobs are moving from Jefferson County to “more favorable, business-friendly areas such as Sequim,” Courtesy Auto Group said in a written statement.
The closing will leave Price Ford Lincoln Mercury in Port Angeles as the only Ford dealership on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Most of Courtesy’s Port Townsend employees — more than 20 people, according to Hern — have been offered positions at the company’s sales and service departments in Poulsbo, he said.
