If you’ve lived in the Mahoning Valley for more than a few years, you know the name. You probably even have the jingle or the local TV commercials etched into some corner of your brain. Bob & Chuck Eddy Austintown Ohio wasn't just a place to pick up a new Ram 1500 or a Jeep Wrangler; it was a landmark. For nearly half a century, that stretch of Mahoning Avenue was defined by the Eddy family.
But things changed. If you drive past 4850 Mahoning Avenue today, the sign doesn't say "Bob & Chuck Eddy" anymore. It’s different. It’s bigger in some ways, but for many locals, it marks the end of a specific era of family-owned automotive retail in Youngstown.
The 1969 Roots of Bob & Chuck Eddy
The story didn't start with a massive complex. It started in 1969. That’s when the elder Bob Eddy founded Austintown Chrysler Plymouth Imperial. Think about that for a second. In '69, the muscle car era was peaking, and the local steel mills were still the beating heart of the Youngstown economy.
Chuck Eddy, who many locals remember as the face of the business, started at the bottom. We’re talking about pushing a broom around the shop in 1973. He didn't just inherit a desk; he worked every single corner of that lot. By the time the dealership became the Bob & Chuck Eddy Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram powerhouse we knew, it had survived gas crises, the collapse of the steel industry, and the 2009 automotive bailout that nearly wiped Chrysler off the map.
Chuck Eddy wasn't just a local guy, either. He ended up testifying before Congress and working with the White House during the 2009 crisis to help save the brands he sold. That’s a level of influence most local car dealers never touch.
Why the Name Changed
In July 2018, the landscape of Mahoning Avenue shifted. The news broke that the Bob & Chuck Eddy dealership had been sold to the Jim Shorkey Auto Group. Shorkey, a massive player out of western Pennsylvania, was looking to jump the border into Ohio, and the Eddy location was their first big "get."
🔗 Read more: Krone to US Dollar Exchange Rate: What Most People Get Wrong
Honestly, it caught some people off guard. The dealership had been in the family for 49 years.
What happened to the staff?
When a big group buys a family store, people usually worry about layoffs. Interestingly, the transition was relatively smooth. Shorkey actually doubled the sales team within the first month. They kept the legacy of the location but swapped the "Eddy" name for "Jim Shorkey Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Fiat."
So, if you’re looking for Bob or Chuck today, you won’t find them at the sales desk on Mahoning Avenue. The transition marked a move from a single-family legacy to a corporate auto group model, which is a trend we've seen all over the Midwest.
The Community Impact Nobody Talks About
You can't talk about Bob & Chuck Eddy Austintown Ohio without mentioning the money. Not the car sales money, but the charity stuff.
Chuck Eddy was the title sponsor for the Akron Children's Hospital phone-a-thon for years. They raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. They were the ones sponsoring the youth baseball jerseys and the church festivals at St. Michael’s. When a business that's been around since 1969 leaves, that's the part that leaves a hole.
The new owners have tried to keep up that community presence, but it’s a different vibe when the guy whose name is on the building isn't living down the street.
What Most People Get Wrong About the "Closure"
A common misconception is that Bob & Chuck Eddy "went out of business." They didn't. They sold. There’s a huge difference between a business failing and a family deciding that after 50 years, it’s time to exit.
- The dealership is still there.
- The brands (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram) are still there.
- The Fiat and Alfa Romeo additions actually expanded the footprint.
If you go there now, you'll see a modernized facility. It’s sleek. It’s got that high-volume energy that the Shorkey group is known for. But for the regulars who used to walk in and get a handshake from an Eddy, it’s a different world.
Why it Still Matters in 2026
The legacy of Bob & Chuck Eddy Austintown Ohio matters because it represents the "Old Youngstown." It was a business built on the back of the American auto industry's most turbulent years.
Today, the site remains one of the highest-volume dealerships in the Mahoning Valley. The Shorkey group has used that location as a springboard to acquire more lots in the region. It proved that despite the economic hurdles Youngstown has faced, people here still buy cars—and they buy them in massive numbers.
What You Should Do Next
If you’re looking for the dealership today, don't search for "Bob & Chuck Eddy" on your GPS—you might get outdated results or land on a dead website.
Instead, look for Jim Shorkey Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Austintown. They still occupy the same massive lot at 4850 Mahoning Ave. If you're a long-time customer who hasn't been back since the ownership change, expect a more "corporate" experience, but the service department still employs many of the same technicians who worked under the Eddy family for years.
Check your old warranties, too. Most service contracts and "tires for life" programs from the Eddy era had specific transfer clauses when Shorkey took over. It's worth a phone call to their service desk to see if your old perks still stand.
The signs have changed, the faces have changed, but the history of that corner of Austintown remains a core piece of the Valley's business DNA.