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Presidents Day Weekend Blizzard A Blow To Car Dealerships

WINCHESTER (CBS) -- The Presidents Day weekend is typically a big boost for car dealerships, but not this year.

Sunday's blizzard – the latest in a series of record-setting snowstorms – forced some Massachusetts dealerships to close.

Bonnell Ford in Winchester is playing catch-up – sales are down 50 percent this weekend. The dealership had to close early on Saturday because of the storm and didn't open until midday on Presidents Day.

"We definitely lost a lot of business," company president Steven Bonnell said. "This is typically our biggest weekend of the month and that kind of kicks off our spring selling season."

The deals are still going to be there until the end of February, so there's plenty of time for drivers to score some savings.

"We're hoping once the lot clears and everything starts to melt, the public will start coming in the rest of the week," Bonnell said.

In Everett, Honda Cars of Boston is also hoping customers will still come out beyond the three-day holiday weekend.

Pre-owned manager Joe Avilla says the dealership remained open on Sunday, but sales were significantly down.

"We still did about eight units even through the snow," he said. "We were bringing some customers in, letting them know we were open, but yeah, it's a massive undertaking."

He says the dealership typically sells 80 to 100 vehicles during this holiday weekend.

"The moving of the snow, and pushing it around the lot, and finding different places for it is definitely difficult," Avilla said.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz reports: 

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