New owners will soon be taking the driver’s seat at dealerships operated by Green Family Stores, one of the region’s largest auto dealers.
A spokesperson for Green Family Stores confirmed a sale was in the works but would not name the buyer.
“Out of respect for employees and all parties involved, we cannot discuss this until the sale is closer to being finalized,” Rachael Buraski, director of marketing, wrote in an email in response to an inquiry from Springfield Business Journal. She said the new owners have a policy of retaining all employees and managers and it should be “business as usual” for all stores.
Buraski also confirmed that not all the Green dealerships were being sold to the same buyer.
Todd Green did not return a phone call seeking comment.
However, multiple sources told SBJ that Kunes Auto Group of Delavan, Wisconsin, is buying several of the dealerships. Kunes operates more than 40 auto and RV dealerships across Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. The Kunes dealerships closest to Springfield are in Macomb and Quincy.
Green Family Stores, which includes 12 dealerships across the Springfield area, is led by Todd Green, who bought his first dealership in Springfield in 1983. The company traces its roots in the auto industry back to 1958, when Ray Green, Todd’s father, opened a dealership in Monmouth, Illinois.
Green Family Stores has had several significant construction projects in recent years, including building a new Hyundai dealership at 601 W. Stanford Ave., which opened at the end of 2023. A $12 million modernization and expansion project for its Green Toyota store on West Wabash Avenue, was completed earlier this year.
Owner Todd Green has been involved in various other business ventures as well, including in Naples, Florida. He purchased a golf course there in 2014, and five years later he relocated the headquarters of The Gold Center to Naples during a dispute with James Hausman, the former owner, which led to litigation. Around the same time, he acquired a majority interest in a hospitality management company known as Portfolio Hotels & Resorts, Inc. which then changed its name to Core Hotels & Resorts Green.
The Green acquisition would be the latest deal for the Kunes Group, which has been in growth mode. Earlier this year, it entered the Minneapolis market with the purchase of two dealerships from Valley Automotive and also acquired a Chevrolet dealership in Chicago’s North Shore area.
The Kunes dealership group is owned by Gregg Kunes, who bought his first dealership in 1997. The North Shore acquisition represented Kunes’ 53rd acquisition since launching the company.