THE regal lion has been taken down from Shacks in Fremantle’s East End, signalling the end of Holden’s place in the city’s car sales.
Shacks, which has operated out of Fremantle since 1922, will continue its service department at the Queen Victoria Street location, but the sign was taken down as part of a franchising agreement with BYD, who will be moving into the car sales property.
Last standing
Shacks Motor Group’s used car sales moved to Rockingham in June.
Shacks managing director Jodie Kerr, whose family has run the company alongside the Shack family since 1934, says the Holden lion was “one of the last still standing” in Australia but had to be removed before BYD moves in.
“When Holden exited the market in 2020, it was a requirement that all dealers remove their Holden signage, but because we retained our authorised Holden service centre there as a separate agreement, we were allowed to keep the sign up,” Ms Kerr said.
“It was more of a symbolic gesture, because there’s a lot of history in that site, so we were keen to make sure that we could keep it up for as long as possible… we managed to retain the round lion emblem [which] got a little bit damaged during the removal process, and the rest of the sign was really beyond saving.
“We’ve been getting phone calls from people seeing that sign come down… there’s so many social media posts where people have come and bought cars and driven them to the dealership just to take a photo underneath it.”
The sign’s removal signals a “very emotional time” for the motor group, according to Ms Kerr, who recently took over the business from her father Doug Kerr amidst massive industry change.
“The business handover between me and my father is obviously a fairly big move… we’ve done this at the same time as losing that Holden new car heritage so it was a really big redefinition for us,” she said.
“All that during Covid, and Chinese new entrants, and EV technology… [it is] also challenging to find the right balance between remaining true to our heritage and what’s important to use while also moving with the times.
“I’m just really proud we’re still around, not many businesses survive the handover between generations particularly as long as ours have.”
The car sales’ move to Rockingham was a “tough decision”, says Ms Kerr, but was part of the motor group’s “constant evolution” in a growing and developing East End.
“We’ve been really focused on keeping that service presence in Fremantle for all of our Holden and GMSV customers but we’re getting to a point where the facility and the expertise really needs to all be under one roof.
“The Shack and Kerr families are still doing business in Fremantle, we’ve still got the Shacks trade parts and paints in Fremantle, so we certainly haven’t left the area…we’re just constantly redefining.”
by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER