EAST VILLAGE — Integrity of Chicago, a used car lot that went out of business in May, will be replaced by another dealership specializing in preowned cars.
Manhal Abboud, owner of Luxe Auto Mart, which operates a sales lot at 6834 W. Grand Ave. in the Brickyard neighborhood, said that if everything goes as planned, he'll open the new East Village spot within the next month at the former Integrity of Chicago site.
Abboud said he's looking for a few sales workers to staff the new outpost, located at 1133 N. Ashland Ave., just south of the Ashland Avenue and Division Street intersection.
"We want to see what was going wrong here and we want to correct all the mistakes. We want to hire sales people from the neighborhood. We are setting up interviews next week," Abboud said.
Abboud described the former Integrity of Chicago site as "a good lot and a good location to do business."
Earlier Wednesday, dozens of cars were towed away from the former Integrity lot, which is now empty. In business for 11 years, Integrity of Chicago had mixed reviews by Yelp.com members, earning 2 out of 5 stars.
Abboud said all of the towed cars were bank-owned and from the past dealership, which went into foreclosure. A family member of the previous owner hung up on DNAinfo Chicago and the owner did not respond to voicemails about the recent closure.
Luxe plans to sell used Audis, Mercedes, Range Rovers, BMWs, Dodge Chargers and other cars, with prices ranging between $10,000-$25,000, Abboud said.
About 80 cars will be for sale at its new location, and another 80 available at the Brickyard lot, bringing the total to 160, Abboud said.
A Park Ridge resident and Iraq War veteran who joined the used car sales world in 2001 after working in the finance department at a grocery store chain, Abboud said that all of the cars sold at Luxe are preinspected before joining the sales lot.
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