Bees Chevrolet in St. Johns purchased by owners of Kia of Lansing

ST. JOHNS — Bees Chevrolet in St. Johns is now under new ownership. 

The Young Automotive Family, who also own Kia of Lansing, announced that they purchased the St. Johns dealership on Wednesday, according to a news release. 

It's the ninth dealership in Michigan the Young family owns. They also own dealerships in Owosso, Vassar, Frankenmuth, Lansing, Jackson and Ionia. 

“We’re very excited to add St Johns to our dealership portfolio,” co-owner Tony Young said. “In addition to being able to offer the iconic Chevrolet brand to our new customers, we’ll also create a number of new jobs and support local initiatives.”

Bees Chevrolet was rebranded as Young Chevrolet of St. Johns. 

Bernard Feldpausch first started working at his uncle's dealership as a mechanic after he returned from World War II. He bought the business in 1964 and renamed it B's Chevrolet. 

People didn't like the name, because without the apostrophe it would be known as BS Chevrolet, so the name was changed to Bees Chevrolet. 

Jeff Feldpausch bought the dealership from his father in 1997.

The sale does not include Bees Sports, which is located on property south of the dealership, nor the baseball and softball fields to the west. Bernard Feldpausch allowed the use of that land many years ago behind the dealership for youth and community sports.

Contact Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.