Dobles to be sold to Mass. auto dealer
MANCHESTER A Massachusetts auto dealer is on track to buy the operations of the Dobles Chevrolet-Buick-Hummer operation on South Willow Street, according to those familiar with the matter. The deal with Braintree-based Quirk Auto Dealerships is expected to close within a few weeks. Dan Quirk, the company’s president, declined to comment. Dobles officials referred calls to attorney Steve Cohen, of Manchester law firm Devine, Millimet Branch, P.A., who did not return a call seeking comment.
A call made to the home of Eva Montembeault, whose husband Gerard was the longtime owner and president of Dobles before his death earlier this year, was also not returned. Quirk’s operation is a family of several dealerships located in Braintree and Quincy, Mass. The dealerships sell Chevrolet, Ford, Subaru, Kia, Mazda, Nissan and Volkswagen automobiles. Quirk also has an auto body shop and a used-car dealership.
The Dobles operation sells Chevrolet, Buick and Hummer vehicles, and has what it calls one of the largest General Motors parts departments on the Eastern seaboard. Along with a service operation, it also sells specialty commercial vehicles. The Dobles operation as it stands today is largely the work of Gerard Montembeault, who started work at what was then just a Chevrolet dealership as used-car manager in 1957.
Over the years, as he gained promotions and increasing responsibility, Montembeault and his wife kept buying shares in the family-owned firm until they bought it outright in 1985. By 2002, revenues at Dobles topped $120 million annually, and in 2005, Montembeault wrote an opinion essay for the New Hampshire Union Leader that said Dobles employed 165 people and had an annual payroll topping $8 million. Montembeault, 80, died in May after a period of failing health.