Brecht brothers upholding family tradition, business

By: KATHRYN GILLICK - For the North County Times | Friday, April 7, 2006 9:42 PM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- As a franchisee of an international luxury car manufacturer, Brecht BMW does not fit the mold of a typical family business. But the Brechts ---- brothers Tim and Tom and their mother, Jeanelle ---- have continued to run the business much the way they did when the family made up the core of the dealership's management.

Bill Brecht, Tim and Tom's father and founder of Brecht Enterprises Inc., was granted a BMW franchise in 1985 after working for 25 years at BMW of San Diego. The franchise was granted not long before BMW changed its franchising model, limiting the number of dealerships in order to drive up demand at existing ones, Tom Brecht said. Theirs was one of the last franchises awarded in the U.S. In all, there are 350 BMW dealerships nationwide.

Tom and Tim Brecht grew up around BMWs, working on them at home and visiting their father at work. So when their father offered them the chance to work for the new BMW dealership he was opening in Escondido, they signed on immediately.

Tom Brecht became the new dealership's finance manager, and Tim Brecht was the parts manager. Tim Brecht, now the dealership's general manager, said their father taught them not only about running a dealership, but also how to manage employees through a hands-off approach.

"He let us do what we needed to do in our separate departments," he said. "He trusted that we were doing the right thing."

When the dealership opened on Valley Parkway in April 1985, it had 12 employees, including the four Brechts. It moved to a 1.8-acre site on Auto Parkway North in the Escondido Auto Park in 1988.

The company has grown exponentially since the move. In addition to BMW cars, the dealership carried BMW motorcycles from 1998 to 2004 and opened the county's only Mini Cooper dealership in 2002. Last year, it opened a 20,000-square-foot sales center on Auto Parkway South, said Tom Brecht, the company's dealer principal.

The Brechts company now employs a total of 150 people between its BMW and Mini dealerships, and occupies a total of 110,000 square feet in four buildings in and around the Auto Park. It sold 2,664 new and used cars last year, with gross sales reaching $120 million.

"San Diego County has been good to us," Tim Brecht said.

Tim and Tom Brecht took over the daily operation of the dealerships when their father died of stomach cancer in 2003. Their mom, Jeanelle, is the company's owner, but leaves day-to-day operations to her sons. Applying management techniques learned from their father during the early days of the dealership, the brothers sought to retain a family atmosphere while showing their employees that the dealership's success is attributable to all of them.

The brothers say they accomplish that through open communication, including weekly meetings with managers, monthly meetings with department heads, taking time to meet every new employee, and then trusting them to do their jobs.

Contact freelance writer Kathryn Gillick at kgillick@gmail.com.

Name: Brecht Enterprises

Address: 1700 Auto Parkway South, Escondido

Phone: (760) 291-2893

Web site: www.brechtbmw.com

Year established: 1985

Products and services: New and used car sales

Number of employees: 150

Size: 110,000 square feet

Gross sales: $120 million in 2005

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