Eastside Jeep-Eagle Owner's Acquisition Of Chrysler Dealership Trims `Auto Row'

BELLEVUE

The number of owners on Bellevue's "Auto Row" just fell by one.

Doug Dicken, owner of Eastside Jeep-Eagle, has bought the Chrysler-Plymouth dealership two doors away and, as of yesterday, was in the process of merging the two businesses.

The move leaves just one Chrysler dealership in the Seattle area, North Seattle Chrysler-Plymouth, that is still owned by Chrysler Corp. rather than by private entrepreneurs.

Dicken said he was offered the dealership by Chrysler in part because sales there were down because of the recession. He said he welcomed the opportunity to expand.

Dicken, who owned the Jeep-Eagle dealership but leased the two-acre property on which it was located from Chrysler, plans to move the entire operation into Bellevue Chrysler-Plymouth's showroom, which is three times as big and sits on about four acres.

He said he expects the Eastside Jeep-Eagle property to be sold by Chrysler. Dicken speculated an Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Saab or Volvo dealer might want to move in.