LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A downtown staple for more than 75 years, Brown Bros. Cadillac announced Thursday evening it would be closing its doors next month.
"We regret to announce our last day of operation as a Cadillac dealership will be February 15, 2021. We would like to thank our loyal customers and employees for their support for over 75 years," Brown Bros. Cadillac wrote in a post on Facebook.
Since 1946, Brown Bros. Cadillac has served Louisville as a family-run dealership and had been one of the few of its kind left in downtown Louisville.
"Every interaction was very polished, very professional, nothing but great memories," Dan Dunlevy said. "Times change, people change, influences change, and the opportunities in certain sectors may go away as far as location, and that's probably what we're seeing with Brown Brothers is that you don't see many downtown dealerships anywhere in the country."
Dunlevy knows the feeling. Now a commercial realtor, Dunlevy spent many years working at Hausman Motor Company, another family-owned dealership in town.
"My great-grandfather started it in 1916 over on Second Street," he said.
Hausman Motor Company would move to East Market Street where it would spend the majority of the 20th century selling cars until finally closing in 2004. The space is now Feast BBQ's NuLu location.
"It was a great run but sometimes you got to know when to say when, and it was the correct time," Dunlevy said. "If you put your good 80 years in, 90 years in, there's probably no looking back. You did a good job and you move forward and wish whoever the best with the next step of the property."
While Dunlevy said it is sad to see Brown Bros. go, he is curious to see what will be done with the space, which is in a prime spot off Broadway.
"It's such a great corridor in there, it'll get a lot of interaction, different type of synergy," he said. "It's not going to be a truck lot."
WHAS11 reached out to Brown Bros. As of Friday evening, we have not received a response.