The Forest Lake Auto Group is now owned by Morrie’s Auto. Former owner Randy Wilcox sold the two dealerships in early July after 12 years of business.

In 2011, Wilcox opened Wilcox Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram on property once owned by auto dealer Denny Hecker, who was convicted of bankruptcy fraud. Soon after, Wilcox bought the neighboring Chevrolet-Cadillac dealership from the late auto businessman Wally McCarthy.

Wilcox also owned the distribution company Bix Produce in St. Paul for 35 years before selling the business in 2015. He bought his first auto dealership, Central Motors in North Branch, in 2005.

With years of experience in business, Wilcox said his expertise is still sought, but with this recent dealership sale, he’s hoping to be done.

“I’ve already had a couple of offers from other dealership and business owners, but I’m not interested. I’m happy to be retiring,” Wilcox said.

Morrie’s Auto Group, based in Minnetonka, has acquired 14 new locations across Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan in the past six years, and handles over a dozen car brands in the Upper Midwest. With the two in Forest Lake, Morrie’s now owns 20 dealerships in Minnesota, including Mercedes-Benz of St. Paul in Maplewood and Morrie’s Inver Grove Mazda.

Consolidation of auto dealerships under one company name has been an upward trend in Minnesota for the past 20 years, says Scott Lambert, president of the Minnesota Automobile Dealership Association. Lambert says multi-store operations like Morrie’s gain efficiency when they own a wide spread of brands.

But locally owned and family-operated dealerships are still around. Main Motor in Anoka was established in 1919, and run by the Carlson family for 100 years. In 2020, the Mauer Auto Group bought the dealership and renamed it Mauer Main Chevrolet. The Mauer Auto Group was started in 2010 by Bill Mauer, brother of former Twins player Joe Mauer, and also owns Mauer Chevrolet and Mauer Buick GMC in Inver Grove Heights.

Auto sales have been down recently due to lack of inventory, but dealerships have been staying afloat by cutting costs, according to Lambert. He says the dealership market generally has been steady in the past few years, with no major increase or decrease in ownership changes.

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