As the Huling family got out of the car business, another family moved in.

The name Gee is pronounced with a hard G. The family hails from Spokane, where it's been in the car business for 24 years. Gee Automotive Co. purchased all of Huling Bros.' dealerships in West Seattle last fall. The Huling family continues as owners of the buildings and property where the dealerships operate.

The new business is known as Gee West Seattle LLC.

Other than changing the advertising signs on the buildings and making some personnel changes, the new owners plan to sell the same lines of cars that were available when it was called Huling Bros., said Ryan Gee, son of founder George Gee and chief executive officer of the company.

The buildings were recently remodeled so Gee Automotive Co. has no plans to make major changes beyond upgrading furniture and fixtures.

Gee is a bit frustrated at how long it will take to change the store's exterior signs. Signs for all General Motors dealerships are standardized, so GM must approve and make them all. New signs have been ordered but they could take up to nine months to arrive. As a temporary measure, many of the Huling Bros. signs have been covered with temporary Gee Automotive signs.

Gee said he is pleased to be in West Seattle, which he calls a "tight-knit community."

His parents, George and Theresa Gee, moved to Spokane from Montana. George was from Anaconda and Theresa from Butte.

"They wanted to move to the nearest big city, and that was Spokane," Ryan said.

The father of one of Theresa's classmates owned a Ford dealership in Spokane. George was an industrial chemical salesman, mostly for dry cleaners. He was persuaded to take a job as the leasing manager at the dealership in 1977. It turned out he liked the auto business.

George and a partner bought a Pontiac dealership together in Spokane in 1983. When the partner died a few years later, George bought out his widow and took over the dealership. In 1991, he added GMC to the product line.

It wasn't until 2000 that the Gee family began buying and starting dealerships in earnest. They moved their dealerships to Liberty Lake near Spokane. Gee started selling Hummer vehicles two years later.

Gee opened a Buick dealership in 2004 and purchased a Cadillac-Isuzu dealership in Coeur d'Alene the same year.

In addition to acquiring Huling Bros. large operation in West Seattle last year, the Gee family bought a Nissan dealership in Pasco. The Gees also opened the only Porsche dealership between Seattle and Minneapolis north of Boise. It too is located in Spokane.

Acquisition of Huling Bros. is Gee Automotive Group's first foray into the Seattle market. Huling Bros.' Buick dealership was located in a building dating back to the 1940s. That's an older facility than any of Gee's other dealerships.

Ryan Gee's first job was as a lot boy at his dad's dealership. He also worked in the detailing department.

He earned a bachelor's degree in government from the University of Notre Dame and then a master's degree in business administration at Gonzaga University. He attended the National Auto Dealers' Association Academy and served an internship at General Motors headquarters in Detroit.

The Gee's acquisition of Huling Bros. came only months before former salesmen at the West Seattle dealership were charged with burglarizing the apartment of a customer who had a history of mental problems. Although the Huling family stepped forward to reimburse the customer, the incident still left a public-image hangover.

Gee doesn't seem worried about eventually overcoming the unflattering publicity that landed so soon after purchasing the business. He has been impressed by the loyalty of Huling Bros. customers.

"From a marketing perspective, we accelerated the (name) change," Gee said. "But we have a very good foundation here. We're as excited as before."

Tim St. Clair can be reached at 932-0300 or timstc@robinsonnews.com