It’s taken several years and some disappointment along the way, but Wael Athimni has finally become a Dealer Principal. The 39-year-old native of Tunisia entered the automotive business 20 years ago and as his career evolved so did his aspiration to own a store.
That happened recently when Francois Macdonald of Dealer Solutions, Mergers & Acquisitions brokered a deal for Athimni to buy Garage McConnery Chevrolet Buick GMC, about 120 kilometres away from Ottawa in Maniwaki, Quebec. Athimny is originally from Ottawa and last worked there 10 years ago. Overall, he has been working for BMW for the last 15 years, the last year and a half in Toronto.
“I’ve been on the hunt for the last four or five years, it’s like it took forever,” said Athimni. “I’ve been looking, and as you know, a one-time buyer is very different from a group, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to compete. I got lucky with this one. It was a six, seven-month process and finally I was able to realize my dream. It was definitely not easy, especially in the last year. I was in the process of finalizing a deal and two days before the closing the seller pulled out.”
The dealership is 95 years old and the seller is a family that owned it for four generations.
“I’m glad that it finally worked out and the brand is really good, so I feel like I was at the right place at the right time,” said Athimni. “It’s almost impossible to get a GM store. If this store was close to Ottawa or Gatineau, I would never have had the chance. I wouldn’t have been able to complete with a dealer group. It’s not a big market, but for me it’s perfect. The quality of life, the brand, the direction—it’s almost like I can’t believe it.”
