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It's the end of an era, and the start of a new one, for both the dealership and downtown.
By SHARON L. BOND, Neighborhood Times Business Editor
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 18, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG -- Dew Cadillac is leaving downtown. The move has been talked about for several years, but it actually is happening in several weeks.
One of the city's best-known and longest-lived businesses is moving to Pinellas Park. Dew will be up and running at its new quarters on Gandy Boulevard by the first week in January, according to owner Richard Dimmitt.
The historic dealership leaves behind a white brick building at 224 Third St. S with a small showroom, part of which was fashioned from an early gas station.
"Downtown rebirth is going on. It's probably not the best and highest use of that property," said Dimmitt, who bought the dealership 21/2 years ago. "I think people who live and work in the area embrace that and probably are looking forward to us leaving."
That is because when Dew leaves, a much-sought-after Publix arrives.
Publix grocery stores, with headquarters in Lakeland, plans to put one of its smaller, urban groceries on the Dew property. Downtown's rebirth has been propelled by construction of three luxury condominium units and one luxury rental project, all within walking distance of the Dew site. One of the main requirements for a healthy downtown is residents, and residents need convenient grocery stores. The Publix is expected to open in the latter part of 2003.
The Sembler Co., which two years ago developed BayWalk, a downtown entertainment/retail center, is buying the Dew site. On it Sembler will build a small shopping center that includes a Publix grocery store, Eckerd drugstore and several other retailers. Sembler tried but failed to bring a Publix to the ground floor of the parking garage the city of St. Petersburg built for BayWalk.
Dew and Sembler close the deal Jan. 31. Demolition on the Cadillac building begins Feb. 1, according to Craig Sher, president and chief executive officer of Sembler. It will take about eight months to build the grocery store.
In the next few weeks, "a bunch of drivers will drive the cars out and car-pool back" until the several hundred Cadillacs and a few Hummers are at the new location, said Dimmitt, who also owns Dimmitt Cadillac in Clearwater.
The drive is 7.8 miles. Dimmitt said cars often are moved between dealerships, and the small amount of mileage put on during these moves does not devalue them.
Dew Cadillac, started in the early years of the 20th century, is said by employees to be the oldest Cadillac dealership in the country. It was family-owned for 85 years and stayed downtown long after other car dealers headed for more visible locations, such as U.S. 19 N.
"There is more of a drive-by shopping pattern for automobiles," Dimmitt said.
For Dew in downtown St. Petersburg, the shopping pattern included taking women customers to nearby Beach Drive to shop while their cars were serviced. Dew's customer base includes several generations of some families.
Sixty Dew workers, some of whom have been at the dealership for decades, will leave downtown for the new site. Grant Culverhouse, who sells Cadillacs and Hummers, has more than 38 years at the Third Street S location and a lineage. His father, Jim, started at Dew in 1937 and retired in 1976.
Culverhouse, 62, started out by helping clean up in the back shop after school. He is nostalgic about the place but feels it is time Dew had a new dealership and a more visible location.
"This old building is a neat old building, but it needs a lot of repair. It is time for us to have something brand-new," Culverhouse said.
There is a bit of symmetry for Culverhouse in the old Dew building being torn down for a Publix. He used to be a Publix bag boy.
"If I didn't work here, I worked at Publix," he said of his after-school hours and summers.
The new location for the dealership is 3333 Gandy Blvd. Employees gathered there Saturday for a preview and party.
"We straddle the border between St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park. I love the location," Dimmitt said. "It's in between the interstate and U.S. 19. It's a six-lane corridor all the way from the beaches to Tampa.
"Easy in and easy out."