Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Suffolk Mayor Mike Duman has owned his car dealership for decades, so the recent decision to sell part of his business was bittersweet.

“I’ve been doing this for 54 years,” Duman said. “That’s probably long enough.”

Duman recently sold the sales, service and parts division of Mike Duman Auto Sales to Priority Automotive, a group with locations in throughout Hampton Roads and NOVA (Northern Virginia). The sale closed on Monday.

Duman is retaining the rental car and collision center operations of the business. He will also still have a presence at the dealership for at least three years, which will assist with the transition. 

“I’m working 90 hours a week, so it seemed like a good time to find somebody that I was very comfortable selling to. They’re a first-class operation,” Duman said. “They have a reputation for taking care of their customers. They’re very philanthropic, so I thought they were a perfect fit for Suffolk and someone I would feel comfortable taking over the sales operation.”

Duman, who was just re-elected to his second term as mayor, said he had mixed emotions about the difficult decision to sell part of the business. The negotiations have been ongoing for the past year. 

“I was not determined to run for mayor the first of the year unless the dealership transaction occurred, and it didn’t happen within the timeframe, obviously, that I would have liked to have had it done, which would have been the early part of the year,” Duman said. “… It’s been a stressful couple of months getting to that point.”

Over the last year, Duman has served as the city’s mayor, run the business, negotiated the sale of the company and campaigned for re-election simultaneously, a combination he called “trying” mentally and physically.

“I think I’ll be in a better position moving forward to represent the citizens of Suffolk, simply because there are only so many hours in the day, and I will still be afforded the ability to the opportunity to serve my citizens in a business environment with the rental center being expanded,” he said.

Signage had already changed at the business by Wednesday.