Joliet may be place for Lithuanians to buy cars
JOLIET -- There are new car dealerships and used car dealerships. And now an entrepreneur plans to open a Joliet dealership for cars destined for Lithuania.
Tomas Stasys expects to open a used car showroom and overseas auto shipping facility at 810 E. Cass St. in the spring.
Stasys is moving his business from Indiana.
He told the Joliet City Council at meetings in which the plan was reviewed that the Cass Street location offers an opportunity to use the local intermodal yards for shipping.
"I just buy them from the auctions here and from dealers and ship them out," Stasys told the council.
The business benefits from the low value of the dollar, which means Lithuanians can get a good deal buying cars from the United States, Stasys said.
Joliet City Manager Thomas Thanas said the unique car dealership reflects some of the spin-off business activity that Joliet could see from development of the Union Pacific intermodal yard, which is being built on the south end of Joliet. BNSF now has an intermodal yard in Elwood, which Stasys will use.
Stasys received a special use permit to renovate the existing metal warehouse building, which formerly housed an Airgas business, on Cass Street and open it for both used car sales and a storage facility for vehicles headed for Lithuania.
The business would keep about 20 vehicles on site at any given time.
In his application for the permit, Stasys said he would expect to ship an average of three to five vehicles a week.
Stasys plans to bring an empty container from the intermodal yard, load it with vehicles within 48 hours, and return them to the yard for shipment overseas.
Stasys, a Naperville resident, currently operates in Dyer, Ind., under the name St. Bros Automotive Inc.
