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reb elowa veragefo r a dealershipo f
thiss ize,h ada lsod eclineda, lthoughth e seruiced epartmenstt illm adea
small surplus.
Hads he had madea mistakela stw eek,C arolw onderedi,n turning
downB illF roelich'os ffert o buyt he business?lt wast ruet hatt he price
offeredh ad beens ubstantiallbye lowt he offerf rom Froelichth at her father
had rejectedtw o yearse arlierb, utt he businessh adb eenm orep rofitable
then.
TheS ul l ivanF ami ly
WalterS ullivanh adp urchasead smallF ordd ealershiipn 1971,
renamedit SullivanA uto,a nd builti t up to becomeo ne of the bestk nowni n
the metroa rea.S ix yearsb ack,h e had borrowedh eavilyt o purchaseth e
currents itea t a majors uburbanin tersectionin, an areao f townw ith many
new hor-rsindge velopments.
Thereh asb eena dealerslliopn the site,b utt he buildingws ere3 0
yearso ld.S ullivanh adr etainedth e servicea nd repairb ays,b utt ornd ownt he
showroomin fronto f them,a nd replacedit by an attractivem odernf acility.O n
movingt o the newl ocationw, hichw as substantialllya rgerthanth e old one,
he had renamedh isb usinessS ullivan'As utoW orld.
Everybodyh ads eemedt o knowW alt SurllivanH.e hadb eena
consummatesh owmana nde ntrepreneuar,p pearingin hiso wnr adioa nd
televisionc ornmercialasn da ctivei n cornnrurriatyf fairs.H isa pproachto car
salesh ade mphasizedp romotionsd,i scountsa, ndd ealsi n ordert o maintain
volume.H e was neverh appierth anw henm akinga sale.
CarolS ullivan-Diaaz,g ed2 8,w as the eldesto f Waltera nd Carmen
Sullivan'tsh reed aughtersA. ftero btaininga bachelor'ds egreei n economics,
she hadg oneo n to takea n MBAd egreea nd hadt hene mbarkedo n a career
in healthc arem anagemenSt.h ew as marriedto Dr. RobertoD iaz,a surgeon
at St. Luke'sH ospitalH. erZ }-yearo ldt wins istersG, aila ndJ oannew, ho
werec olleges ophomoresli,v edw itht heirm other.
As a colleges tudentS, ullivan-Diahza dw orkedp art-timein herf athers
businesso n secretariaaln d bookkeepintga sks,a nda lsoa s a servicew riteri n
the serviced epartments:o shew as quitef amiliarwithth e operationso f the
dealershipA.t businesss chools, heh add ecidedo n a careeri n healthc are
managemenAt. fterg raduations,h e hadw orkeda s an executivea ssistantto
the presidenot f St. Luke's,a larget eachingh ospitalT. wo yearsl ater,s he
joinedM etropolitaHn ealthP lan,a largeh ealthm aintenanceo rganization
(HMO),a s assistandt irectoro f marketing- a positions he had now heldf or
almostt l'rreey ears.H er responsibilitieinsc ludeda ttractingn ewm embers,
complainht andlingm, arketr esearcha, nd memberr etentionp rograms.
Carol'se mployerh adg ivenh era six-weekle aveo f absenceto put her
father'sa ffairsi n order.S hed oubtedt hats he coulde xtendt hatl eavem uch
beyondt he two weekss tillr emainingN. eithers he noro therf amilym embers
werei nterestedin makinga careero f runningt he dealershipH. owevers, he
was preparedto taket imeo utf romh er healthc arec areert o worko n a
turnaroundif thats eemeda viablep ropositionS. he had beens uccessfuiln
her presenjto b and believedit wouldn ot be difficultto finda notherh ealth
managemenpt ositionin the future.
The Dealership
Likeo therc ar dealershipsS,u llivan'sA utoW orldo peratedb oths ales
and serviced epartmentso, ftenr eferredto in the tradea s "fronte nd" and
"backe nd,"r espectivelyH.o weverA, utoW orldd id not h