Expanding service, parts, body shop operations helped dealership weather the storm Fourth-generation auto dealer Omnia Fowler grew up in a family that knows about surviving tough times. Fowler's great-grandfather opened a Chevrolet store in 1933 amid the Great Depression.semi trailer van A key lesson Fowler has learned: When times are difficult, focus on what you can control and run with it. Fixed operations is one of those areas. Fowler, dealer principal of Modern Toyota in Winston-Salem, N.C., saw trouble brewing a decade ago. With people losing their jobs, he knew that new-vehicle sales would suffer, even for a strong brand such as Toyota, Fowler told Automotive News. But owners still needed to maintain their vehicles. As he watched sales of weaker brands fall in mid-2008, Fowler concentrated on getting ahead of the storm. He and his team looked at employee pay plans and some managers moved back into sales roles temporarily. With employees who had been with the company 30, 40, 50 years, Fowler wanted to keep as many as possible. Some of them started commuting 90 minutes each way to a Toyota store in Boone, N.C., after Fowler's Modern Automotive Group acquired it in 2009. Meanwhile, the Modern Toyota dealership team was looking at areas where the store could maintain or boost income apart from new-vehicle sales. The service department, body shop and used cars were good candidates. "A lot of dealers were thinking, 'We've got to cut people, cut people,' but we strategically added people that contributed to the income," Fowler said. "You can't necessarily control more sales, but we can control more service, I think."