everything that you've done for us, for the business. you really saved us. and you gave us hope. and it means a lot to me, personally. >> i wish you a lot of luck. and, you know, i'll be around if you need me, okay? >> yeah. man #1: okay, rolling. c-cam speed. amber: this is our first episode of season 2, "athans motors." this is weird. i feel so far here. lemonis: this feels different for me. i feel like i'm having a very intimate conversation with you 'cause i see nobody else but you and me. amber: yeah. i like this distance. lemonis: you can back your ass up some more. amber: [ laughs ] lemonis: in the last seven years of doing "the profit," i've visited nearly 100 businesses. let's go make some money! [ horn honking ] and i've traveled the country trying to fix the people... and you do $1 million a year? you should be proud of that. man: but we don't know how to keep any of it. lemonis: ...fix the process... you see? it flimsy. don't ever make these again. you don't sell them.

...and create a few products. juli: it reduces anxiety and depression. lemonis: i kind of like it. i spent countless days working on these companies. how much money did you burn through? parker: $650,000. lemonis: but we can't always fit everything i'm thinking into the show. so tonight, we're gonna take an inside look at episode from season 2, "athans motors." pete: this is my money. that's the problem. if that's micromanaging, you're damn right. i'm gonna micromanage everybody. lemonis: we may have actually understated what a micromanager this guy was. pete: that's ridiculous. lemonis: over the next hour, i'm gonna take you behind the scenes to share with you what i was actually thinking during filming... there literally were no cars in that parking lot. oh, my gosh. is this guy already out of business? ...share some secrets... my offer -- $3.5 million. people were upset with me on social media. "how could you give this guy such a great deal?" i knew that with a couple million bucks, this thing could be up and running. ...and give you an honest assessment of my decisions.

what'd you pay for the building? pete: $1.875 million. lemonis: how much debt do you have on the business? pete: about $6.9 million. amber: why didn't you run? lemonis: if the shop had been empty, i would have been out of there. my name is marcus lemonis, and this is an inside look at "the profit." tonight, i'm gonna give you an inside look at our first episode from season 2, "athans motors" in chicago, and it happens to be the car business, which is something that i'm familiar with. amber: will you tell us a little bit about your history with the car business? lemonis: i grew up in the car business. my family had been in the car business for a number of years. you remember when you went to summer vacation, to camp? amber: yep. lemonis: yeah, no, that wasn't me. my summer camp was mopping asphalt. i was a car jockey. i was a parts runner. i was a car salesman. i did all of it, and i loved it. actually the best thing i ever did. ♪

i've just arrived at athans motors, and i can't figure out if this place is even open. where are all the cars? but what they do have is all super high-end. in a good used-car dealership, you have to have affordable cars. that shot of the parking lot was not anybody being clever trying to exaggerate that there were no cars. there literally were no cars in that parking lot. i remember walking in and thought, "oh, my gosh. is this guy already out of business?" ♪ wow, look at this place. i go in the showroom. there's two or three cars, and they're oddballs, and first thing i do is, i look up, and i see this giant mural. he was like michelangelo painting on the ceilings. what goes through my brain is, "whatever it cost to paint that could have been one more car on the showroom floor." how you doing? i'm marcus. larry: larry. nice to meet you. lemonis: nice to meet you, larry. is this car for sale? larry: yes, it is. lemonis: how many total cars on the lot? larry: probably 20. lemonis: total? larry: total. lemonis: twenty cars?

twenty cars is more like a private collection than a used-car dealership. if you want to drive volume in the used-car business, you really have to have a wide selection with different brands, some sport utilities, some convertibles. and a little tip for anybody in the used-car business -- what sells new sells used. let's start with matching your used inventory to what sold in the last 24 months from the new manufacturers. pete. pete: marcus. lemonis: how you doing, buddy? thank you for taking the time. lemonis: absolutely. pete: what'd you think of the place when you first walked in? lemonis: it's... yeah. it's built out. that's for sure. pete: this is my soul. i design. i architect. lemonis: have you been in the car business a long time? pete: no. i was only 5 years in the car business before i opened. i've put everything i have in here and my soul and my bank account. can i give you a tour of the place? lemonis: all right. let's do it. pete: i'm the one who did everything, so i'm ready to be one of the best independent stores in the united states. lemonis: you've got to get some cars first. what'd you spend on these walls? pete: close to $100,000, $80,000.

lemonis: okay. pete: i try to do something right once, so i don't have to touch it ever again. lemonis: you put in how much in renovating the place, a million dollars? pete: over $2 million. lemonis: wow. pete: the ceiling alone probably was about $15,000. lemonis: so one used car? pete: correct. lemonis: okay. pete: i created a state-of-the-art customer lounge. lemonis: where are the customers? what did it cost to build out this whole room? pete: close to half a million. lemonis: come on. so, like, that granite, how much does that cost? pete: they were about $25,000, the four. lemonis: and all this movie stuff, how much is that? pete: tvs are about $15,000. the seats are $25,000, $30,000. lemonis: pete, why? how does any of this help you sell cars? pete: i made this store to be the place where you want to hang out... lemonis: i don't want to hang out. i just want to buy a car. pete: ...to have the best customer experience anywhere in the united states. lemonis: pause. in all the years that i've been making the show, i don't know that i've ever seen anybody be as reckless

and as irresponsible with money as pete athans was, and rather than continuing to belabor the point of what a mistake it was, the money was spent already. now the question is, how does the business actually take this overly done facility and get some inventory? what'd you pay for the building? pete: $1.875 million. lemonis: so you have a little under 4 million in the facility? pete: yes. lemonis: how much debt do you have on the business? pete: about $6.9 million. lemonis: what? i'm sorry, how much? pete: $6.9 million. lemonis: where's the money? pete: holding the losses to keep this place going. i'm losing over $100,000 a month for almost 2 1/2 years. lemonis: this is a bad scenario. amber: why didn't you run? lemonis: i love the market. i know the business. i didn't think the facility was bad, and i knew that with a couple million bucks specifically for inventory that this thing could be up and running. hi. erika: hi. lemonis: i'm marcus. erika: i'm erika. lemonis: how are you? erika: good. nice to meet you. lemonis: are you accounting? erika: well, i'm the operations manager here, so i do all the accounting, all the finance. lemonis: do you have a financial statement for last month? erika: the books are in your office.

pete: sure, i'll get it. erika: i can print you one, i think. lemonis: you do the books, but you're not allowed to keep them? erika: everything stays in pete's office. pete: but not because she can't get it. it just stays in my office. lemonis: the idea that the accounting person doesn't have control of financials is a bit ludicrous to me. an accountant's job, in my mind, it's to be an advisor, to tell you what the numbers are, where the break-even analysis is, what's working, what's not. they're there to be a copilot. if you actually take the steering wheel away from your copilot, then they're just a passenger in the car that's going nowhere. right now, you're losing $150,000 a month. you're selling 10 cars. you're 50 cars short from breaking even. in order to make up for the $150,000 of monthly losses, athans would have to sell 60 cars, $2,500 profit per car. in order to sell 60 cars, you need at least 120 on the ground. today, you have 20. you're 100 cars short. i mean, it's a real challenge. how much money do you have in the account today?

$27 dollars. pete: between $20,000 and $30,000. lemonis: thanks, erika. erika: you're welcome. amber: how does this business stay afloat after losing $1.8 million? lemonis: he either brings in a partner, or it closes. no money, no cars -- no business. pete's cousin tony has been the general manager of athans since they opened, and i want to get his perspective on the business. are you tony? tony: yes, i am. lemonis: how you doing? i'm marcus. tony: it's a pleasure. lemonis: nice to meet you. so you're the manager? tony: i wear all the hats. lemonis: you wear all the hats. okay. tony: i have been in the car business about 18 years. excuse me. lemonis: yeah. hi. man: hi, how are you? tony: what can we do for you today? man: i am actually in the market for an suv. tony: you like a bmw, mercedes, porsche? what you looking for? man: i'm kind of looking for something a little bit more modest... tony: okay. man: ...a ford, chevy maybe. lemonis: the first potential buyer i've seen since i've been here walks in, and he's looking to buy an suv.

he seems motivated, excited, ready to buy. the problem is, we don't have what he wants. tony: i wish we could help you. man: no, it's all right. tony: you know, maybe next time. tony: take care. lemonis: he wants to be in an affordable car like everybody else in america. and every suv we have on the lot is priced over $40,000. how many customers a day do you get that you can't sell stuff to? tony: it's not just the walk-in customers. it's the phone calls. lemonis: yeah. tony: it's the internet. lemonis: seems busy, the service seems busy. tony: yes, service does, like, $100,000 per month. sometimes, we do a little bit more. lemonis: most important part of any dealership is what happens in the service department. highest margin, it's the thing that is most important to the customer, and it's nothing more than parts and labor. both of them have extreme markup. it's an amazing business, so the thing that gave me confidence to stay was seeing that there was business going on in the service department, and it was $100,000 a month. if the shop had been empty, no technicians, no work, nothing on the lift, no work happening, i would have been out of there.

so in your role as general manager, how much time do you spend out here? tony: i'm back here quite often. lemonis: those guys are reporting to you? tony: yes and no. okay. i talk to them about daily operations, but technically, i don't really have authority over any department. pete wants his finger on very single thing in the store. he micromanages, and the relationship is very strained. lemonis: now, over the course of all the seasons that we've done, we've laughed about micromanagers, but in this particular business, of all the businesses we've ever done, we may have actually understated what a micromanager this guy was. micromanagement creates a morale problem because employees want to feel like they're contributing, they're earning their keep. you take that away from your team, you're essentially telling them that their effort doesn't matter, and when they're driving home at night, are they feeling proud about the work they did that day, or are they feeling like they're just collecting a paycheck? because at some point, people want to contribute. they want to be rewarded.

they want to feel like they have growth and not feel like they're minimized. you're almost $7 million in debt, and you have almost no cash. what do you stand to lose if this business closes? pete: i would lose my house, my dream. it would be catastrophic. lemonis: yeah. well, the stakes are big for me, too. i take money very seriously. my offer is very simple. it's $3.5 million to help clear the debt, bring in new cars for inventory, and essentially change athans motors into a brand-new business that makes money, and you share in the economics. it will be fifty-fifty partners, but i'm 100 percent in charge because i know this business better than you do. i think this actually may be one of the biggest deals that we did on the show, and i know that everybody was stunned by the number. people were upset with me on social media. "how could you give this guy such a great deal?"

let me explain how the numbers were made up. so, of that $3.5 million, a portion of it was to pay off the debt on the building because i wanted to own the building, and the balance was to put inventory on the ground to make this business work, and i knew if i owned 100 percent of the building, and i owned 50 percent of the business, i was like, "okay, i'm safe with the building. i'm gonna own the cars, and him and i are gonna split the profits fifty-fifty. okay." it wasn't a bad deal for him, and it wasn't a bad deal for me, but i was not gonna just give this guy money. pete: i'm a little concerned when you say 100 percent, you run the business because i believe i have something special here. lemonis: what's special about it? you have a used-car lot with no inventory. pete: that's your opinion. lemonis: no, no, it's not a [bleep] opinion! amber: [ laughing ] lemonis: i mean, how is it an opinion? he's like, "no, man, there's something special here. i'm running a circus." no cars. sorry, i got fired up. in the 4 years you've been open, you've lost $4 million.

there's 20 employees that work here. they're gonna be out of jobs. pete: but what i have set up is infrastructure. lemonis: there's no process in place. pete: i don't care how much money you have, you can't have the right resources to actually run the business the right way overnight. lemonis: i don't agree with you. pete: i -- lemonis: there's nothing magical about this business, sorry. pete: you're look... lemonis: you have no inventory. it's gone. pete: and will i be able to keep the name? lemonis: is the name important to you? pete: yes. lemonis: i thought keeping the place open was important to you. you've got to put your pride away for a minute. pete: you're looking at it only on your end as an investor, as a partner. lemonis: yeah, i'm looking at it from my end because i'd like to not lose $3.5 million. i'm sorry. the only way this business works is if somebody that knows the business better than you is driving the process. it doesn't work any other way. pete: i think i'm unstoppable. lemonis: pete, if you're not gonna put your pride away,

well, then i'm not gonna do the deal. pete: you don't need to raise your voice with me. lemonis: well, i'm raising my voice because you keep repeating the same thing, and you don't seem to understand what i'm telling you. ♪ erika: are you okay? pete: end it. tony: i have decided that i don't want to do this anymore. pete: play this through. tony: my decision is made. lemonis: this is the first time we've ever had somebody actually quit while we were filming the show. amber: you're right, yeah.

w?w?uhlemonis: i came here to help you. you asked me to come help you. i gave you a very fair offer. it's a yes or a no. because i'm ready to bounce. pete: yes. lemonis: i'm writing a check for $3.5 million. pete: maybe for the first time ever, good night's sleep. lemonis: this check, you know that i'm 100 percent in charge? pete: correct. lemonis: we have a deal? pete: we have a deal. pleasure. lemonis: okay? pete: thank you for the opportunity. everybody meet in the showroom, please. everybody meet in the showroom. lemonis: good morning. can we count the number of people in this meeting? because there's more people than there are cars.

if everybody sells a car today, they'll be out of business. amber: [ laughs ] so the reason we're here today is that pete and i have made a deal. pete and i are gonna be fifty-fifty partners, but things are gonna change dramatically. we're not gonna be buying fancy things. video games and movie screens don't sell cars. i'm gonna liquidate that stuff and transform this place so that every square inch generates revenue. next, we're gonna dramatically change the marketing plan because once we have cars to sell, we need to get the word out. we're gonna show this community that we're no longer a high-end dealership with no inventory. we will cater to everybody. we're gonna put on a grand-reopening event, invite the whole city, have them come down, check us out, and hopefully they'll but some cars. the last thing and, i think, the hardest for pete, is that going forward, tony, pete is finally going to let you do your job. right? pete: absolutely. lemonis: and we're gonna do that. you know, it's funny how much the industry

has changed in the last 5 years, since even we shot this episode. the internet has revolutionized the way people buy cars both on the dealership side and the consumer side because the technology available today allows you to take the vin number and explode it and see the history, understand what the market is, see how many times it's been sold. it's radically changed, and today, if i was giving that same meeting to the employees, while some of the basic principles would be the same, we'd be having a lot more discussion around how technology will drive this business. i can't even imagine what the next 5 years are gonna be. amber: that's crazy. lemonis: crazy how much it's changed. i will do everything that i can to make you successful and to help you make more money. that's my job. let's get to work. [ applause ] let's get to work. hey, pete, can we go walk the inventory? pete: sure. lemonis: so let's grab erika and tony, as well. what do you think the thing that bothered me the most about pete was? you know what it was? it was the fact that he was always in his office. amber: sitting at his desk.

lemonis: yeah, was never out on the floor, never in his inventory, never in the shop, never talking to customers. automobile general managers -- i better never find them in their office. i'm gonna liquidate inventory of cars that aren't selling, and i'm gonna reinvest that cash into cars that i know will sell. one of the things i like to do in a business like this is walk the inventory every morning at the start of the day, so the average price of a used car sold around here is $15,000 to $30,000. how much is this porsche? pete: $76,000. lemonis: how much is this car? pete: $30,000. lemonis: how much is that car? pete: $46,000. lemonis: where's all your cars under $30,000? if you have a limited amount of capital, you have to prioritize where your first dollar is gonna go, and your first dollar of inventory has to go into products that you know are gonna sell, and as you build that inventory and you start satisfying the market, if you want to try niche-y cars or expensive cars as the cherry on top after everything is done, fine. who's responsible for buying cars?

tony: i am responsible to an extent. lemonis: so did you buy all these cars? tony: no. lemonis: what the...? pete: i was buying. lemonis: what do you know? pete is so committed to proving that his way is the right way that he's ignoring people that know the business far better than he does, and he continues to bury himself in debt and bad decisions. if we don't understand where the market really is, and we don't price properly based on the age of the car, then everything we have on the lot is gonna be full of water. do they have any teslas? amber: [ laughs ] lemonis: this is cash. it's melting down on us. they got to go. will you point out to me the cars that are over 60 days old? pete: this one. lemonis: the reason i'm asking about the 60 days old is because typically if a good used car is taken in on trade or purchase, and it's priced right from the beginning, and it's reconditioned properly, it'll sell in less than 30 days, and the more you drive the average price down, the quicker it'll sell. if a car has been there 70 days, what does that tell you? nobody wants it. what do we own it for? pete: $46,000.

aw. lemonis: great, come on, guys. pete: with... lemonis: i'm gonna clear the cache. pete: i know, but you're taking a big hit. lemonis: how much is this car worth? pete: $32,000. lemonis: $28,500. pete: aw. lemonis: next car. pete: can't buy that at $28,500. lemonis: it's 5 months old. amber: and this is hard for pete 'cause he feels like he's selling his cars for, like, pennies on the dollar, right? lemonis: so here's the thing that a lot of people were upset about. they thought that i was forcing pete to take losses unnecessarily, but the reality of it is that car isn't a picasso. it's not gonna be worth more tomorrow. pete: that one is 33 and change. lemonis: how come you don't know these numbers? tony: i could answer you. lemonis: let him answer. what's the car worth? pete: $48,000. well, i'll stop answering. lemonis: what do we own it for? tony: about $45,000. lemonis: what's it worth? tony: low forties. lemonis: $38,500. pete: you're discounting easy things that i can't go buy at the price that you're saying. lemonis: well, pete, they're not worth anything if they don't sell. they're just sitting here. when they're past 60 days, they're gonna get liquidated.

if we take a loss, we're gonna learn our lesson. the losses were slightly exaggerated to make a point. i needed him to understand that this is a real problem, and if he was going to prove me wrong, then he would come back and say, "you said 38,500, i sold it for 40,000." but i got done what i wanted to get done. he's not trying to sell it for $55,000. tony, these cars better be gone by the end of the week. you're the general manager. i expect it to be done. i got tired of tony just standing there. you're a guy that's collecting a paycheck. you know that this isn't right. i understand that you're not 100 percent in charge, but pete wasn't gonna move on it, and i was trying to find out, can i get tony to move? because if he's not gonna move either, i'm gonna flush the toilet on both of them. ♪ tony: this is a 2012 c-class, so tires, brakes, everything is better than 50 percent, did all the fluids on the car. lemonis: i'm impressed that i see tony wasting no time

bringing wholesalers in to liquidate cars. we will no longer follow pete's plan of having dead inventory just sit around. we're gonna turn that into cash and reinvest it into cars that actually sell. tonthe car is sitting here right now on better than $34,000. andrew: it's never gonna do $34,000. tony: i know. that was the problem from the start. andrew: i think the car is somewhere in that 28 range. tony: $28,500, i'll sell the car, and it'll be done with. andrew: okay. pete: i won't sell it at that. amber: he again is, "i can't let anybody"... he's just micromanaging the hell out of things. pete: car is worth $30,000 all day wholesale. andrew: i think that if i bring it to the auction, it does $27,000, $27,500. lemonis: max. max. pete: and this was a front line ready car. i can't let you make a couple thousand on a wholesale deal. andrew: okay. lemonis: andrew, how are you? andrew: hi, i'm andrew. tony: this is marcus. lemonis: how long have we had this car? tony: close to 6 months. lemonis: i mean, that's the issue. car is not worth 34 grand. pete: well, i still think $25,000 was too low. lemonis: now, let's you and i talk over here. sorry, andrew.

what is the problem with letting tony do this job? what is the problem? pete: i feel i have to be on every single decision because that extra $500, that extra $2,000 means everything to me. doesn't mean everything to you because you'd be selling the damn car! sorry. pete: think differently when it's your money and not anybody else's. lemonis: honesty, i have to tell you, from what i'm hearing and what i'm seeing, i don't think you can help yourself but to micromanage everything. pete: but i haven't! lemonis: i'm watching you do it all over the place! pete: that's ridiculous. lemonis: no, it's not ridiculous. pete: that's ridiculous. lemonis: do you trust tony? pete: no! lemonis: why? pete: because it's my money. he loses nothing. that's the problem. so if that's micromanaging, yeah, you're damn right. i'm gonna micromanage everybody. i'm not changing. lemonis: if you cut somebody's balls off every time they make a decision or in front of somebody, he does the deal, and then the deal unwinds, it's a problem. the reason you're taking a $5,000 loss is because you bought the car wrong. that's the reason there's a loss, not because he made a mistake on the value. cars that have been out here more than 60 days have to go, so this car is going, and tony made the deal,

and you're not gonna come behind every single person and change the deal. you can't do that anymore, and, andrew, the car is sold at $28,500. pete: ah, [bleep]. lemonis: he's disrespecting his people that are working with him, trying to make him money, trying to make him better because he thinks he has all the answers, and he doesn't know [bleep] about shinola because he wouldn't have these cars sitting there for 95 days. this was a good episode. amber: it is a good episode, good characters. lemonis: nine grand. auctioneer: sold! [ indistinct talking ] auctioneer: sold! lemonis: yes! seven, five, seven, five, got 11, got 12, 12.5. can i get 13? thirteen two, you bought it! amber: [ laughs ] lemonis: if you're looking to take your business to the next level, log on to theprofitcasting.com. .. jimmy's gotten used to his whole room smelling like sweaty odors.

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♪ lemonis: hey, guys. are you ready to start? we're gonna open up these doors and get these cars out. in order to transform this business, we need to utilize every square inch of this facility to generate revenue. these classic cars are on consignment, which means that we don't own them, and we're not gonna make a lot of money on them. i want to get them out of here so i can bring in cars that we do own and we can make some real money on. pete: that's all you. lemonis: yeah, buddy.

now that we've gotten rid of the wrong cars, it's time to buy the right cars. auctioneer: next one up, from the big lot. lemonis: we're at the auto auction where tony will have a chance to do his job and buy inventory without pete interfering. this is fun. tony: too many miles. i don't want it. lemonis: pause. the way an auto auction works is that the cars basically go through a driveway. it's called the shoot. they come through. there's an auctioneer. you stand there if you want to buy it. you've got to bid against other people. you buy it. you own it. you got to settle up that day and pay for the cars. there's a lot of adrenaline, and as the seller of cars, i rely on that adrenaline to get buyers to pay more. as a buyer of a car, [sucks teeth] it's easy to make mistakes because you get caught up in the hype. amber: can you do an auctioneer impression? lemonis: seven, five, seven, five. he's got 11, got 11, got 12.5 for 'vette. got 13. you got 13. to the guy in the hat, can i get 13.2? thirteen two. you bought it. amber: [ laughs ] lemonis: that's as good as it's gonna get. tony: you can buy this car for, like, 5 grand, $5,500.

this car is probably worth about $9,000. lemonis: nine grand. auctioneer: sold! [ indistinct talking ] auctioneer: sold! sold! lemonis: yes! i can tell this is tough for pete, letting tony and i make decisions, but i'll give him some credit. he's standing back and letting us do our job. auctioneer: sold! sold! sold! woman: the balance is $386,672. lemonis: okay. woman: okay? amber: you were a baller and pulled out your black card. lemonis: yep. today, we picked up 28 used cars. we more than doubled our inventory. how much did we spend, 386,000? amber: yeah. lemonis: hold on. hold on. i'm older now, so i have to wear glasses. $386,000 divided by 28 cars, $13,785 is the average price. what did we say we wanted the average to be? amber: $15,000. lemonis: fifteen grand, which means that i'm gonna have cars that are under 20 grand, which is a great deal, and i know that my margins

as a percentage are gonna be spectacular. i've hired painters to come in and take down these murals and paint over these clouds that add no value to selling cars. we're gonna liquidate all these excess luxury items, so we can reinvest back into the company. this is gonna put about $150,000 of working capital in the bank. whoo-hoo! check it out, liquidation! i brought in a crew of several dozen workers to transform the lounge into an auto-accessory store. i've also taken walls down to create a nice checkout area and improve the customer flow. you just wants these in the showroom? the lounge currently generates no revenue per square foot. it actually costs us money. once we bring in these parts and accessories, we'll be generating revenue every square inch. we actually want this lounge working for us. pete: can't believe you took my lounge away. this was a state-of-the-art lounge. lemonis: who needs a lounge? put a lounge in your house. there's just too much square footage not being used. we have to generate more revenue.

we can't use this just to have people sit around and watch movies. it doesn't work. unbelievable. ♪ tony: jim? jim: hey. yeah? tony: why is this car still sitting here after i specifically said i needed it done asap? jim: pete told us to stop doing it. tony: what do you mean pete? god! jim: i got to listen to the boss. tony: all right. you know what? that's fine. ♪ pete: what's going on, tony? tony: listen, i decided that i don't want to do this anymore. pete: why do you want to leave? why? tony: because our [bleep] relationship went to [bleep]. [ voice breaking ] it wasn't an easy decision, and... pete: you're not leaving, though. tony: i am. pete: listen, you're not going anywhere. pete: marcus, come here, please. marcus? lemonis: pause.

did he just intercom me? amber: yes, he did. lemonis: more importantly, do i actually come? amber: yeah. lemonis: oh. amber: i make you. lemonis: so maybe the joke's on me. let's play this. tony: nobody is changing my mind, okay? pete: no, you you stay here. you will be running it. we've set everything up to succeed. tony: i'm sure you will, pete. pete: listen to me. tony: there's no question about it. lemonis: i can't be here alone with my granite. pete: ...don't want to be here. tony: doesn't matter. it doesn't matter. lemonis: so what's going on? pete: he wants not to be here. lemonis: why not, tony? tony: i feel that right now, he has the right partner to help him get to the next level. lemonis: well, he has the right financial partner, but i'm not here every day. tony: i understand that, and... pete: have i ever asked you for anything? lemonis: actually, yes. pete: now i'm asking. play this through. tony: my decision is made. [ door closes ] ♪

lemonis: this is the first time that i think we've ever actually had somebody actually quit while we were filming the show. amber: you're right, yeah. lemonis: he was in a tough spot because he knew what the right thing to do was, but he also didn't want to maybe hurt his family's feelings, and i respect that. i get that. and so he thought, "maybe i'll just get out of the way," which, you know, was probably a good idea. pete: i don't have cars, but i have a good business. lemonis: but you don't have cars! that is the business! pete: i'm done arguing with you! this is bull[bleep]. move. lemonis: i felt like i needed him to hear the truth because maybe people had been enabling him or telling him what he wanted to hear for years, clearly wasn't working.

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all: ♪ happy birthday to you woman #1: yay! [ applause ] amber: [bleep]. woman #2: blow out your candle! [ indistinct talking ] lemonis: thank you guys very much. amber: you were so adamant about shooting on your birthday. lemonis: well, i wanted to shoot on my birthday because i didn't want to do anything else. lemonis: and for me, i love doing this so much that it was like a good birthday gift. amber: yeah. lemonis: well, tony is now gone. what do you think? pete: i just think it's sad. i look back that i did a lot of things wrong, and it's my fault because i micromanaged him. i'm upset. lemonis: but micromanaging people isn't a good thing. i mean, this is a guy that's been in the business for 25 years, right? and you don't have the same experience. in fact, you don't have any experience in the auto business, and the fact that we have this grand opening coming, and we don't have really anybody else

that understands the auto business is a problem, so i'll go ahead and fill that role of appraising and kind of working on deals with the salespeople, and then i'll find somebody else to fill that role, but we are gonna need somebody on a daily basis that understands the car business. i can't be here every day. i think my one regret in this business as i look back is that i should have probably spent a little bit more time forcing pete to learn the business, but i feel like his stubbornness probably created a wall with me, as well. never once did he acknowledge that he didn't know the business, and never once did he say, "show me how to appraise the cars. show me how to buy the cars. show me how to run a sales force." i should have been more diligent about forcing him to learn the business. my bad. amber: my bad. lemonis: my bad. we're a couple of days away from the grand opening, and not only am i transforming the old business, i'm creating a new one.

athans motors will no longer exist. we will reopen as automatch usa. you're telling me that didn't look like we were in the car business? i'm sorry i took the arcade games out. i thought maybe tires and running bars and truck beds were maybe a better idea than "fast & furious." automatch usa. man #1: very cool. erika: i love it! lemonis: you like it? man #2: i like it. pete: i didn't agree to that. why'd you take my name off? lemonis: because that's the new name of the business. pete: that's bull[bleep]. you didn't even ask me. lemonis: okay, listen. pete knew that we were having discussions about a name change. it wasn't like it just came out of nowhere. he knew all of it was happening because the sign guy had been there weeks before. amber: i mean, how does it make you feel? he's just pissed every step of the way with something. lemonis: i walked as gingerly as i could with him, and he was always a victim. it was always everybody else's fault, and i remember months after when the place would do 95, 105, 110 cars, he would always find reasons or ways to tell me how it wasn't right,

or it wasn't good, or it just... he just never got on board, except he got out of debt. so is it about you seeing your name on the building, or is it about selling cars? pete: my name brought customers in the door because i have a great name in chicago. everybody knows who i am. that's why they come here. lemonis: nobody gives [bleep] about your name. pete: who gives a [bleep] about your name? lemonis: i don't have my name on the building. automatch usa is the new name of the business, and i need to make sure that everybody that came here before knows this is a new day. because when they came here before, there was no cars -- none! pete: i don't have cars, but i have a good business! lemonis: but you don't have cars! that is the business! pete: i'm done arguing with you! this is bull[bleep]. move. bull[bleep]. lemonis: normally, i'm good at diffusing stuff. in this particular case, i felt like he needed to get it out, and i needed him to hear the truth because maybe people had been enabling, or telling him what he wanted to hear for years, clearly wasn't working. pete, what's your problem? pete: you know what?

i didn't agree to all these changes! now you're just gonna change everything. there's gonna be a dictatorship. this ain't gonna be no partnership. lemonis: well, it's not a dictatorship. it's when you called me, you asked me to come in and help you fix the business. the thing that you didn't seem to understand was that everything had to change. when i gave you the $3.5 million, it was to start a new entity. it wasn't to just pick and choose what was gonna change. we needed to relaunch this brand. pete: you know what? i didn't agree to this [bleep]! the deal is off! i sympathize with your frustration, but in the end, what matters is that you make money, these people's jobs get saved, and the business survives, so i need you to go along with this process. amber: have you ever had to swallow your pride like you're asking pete to do right now? lemonis: all the time, especially with you. amber: bull[bleep]. lemonis: for exclusives, extras and business advice, visit theprofit.cnbc.com.

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lemonis: we needed to relaunch this brand. pete: you know what? i didn't agree to this [bleep]! the deal is off! lemonis: no, pete, it's not off. that's not how it works. i've put a lot of money into this place, and the employees are happy, and you've liked a lot of the changes. you know you've liked a lot of the changes, so what's the real problem here? pete: i spent 4 1/2 years creating a brand, spending millions of dollars to have a great name on the street for customers, for employees, for everything, and you just changed it without even asking. lemonis: you're getting so caught up in the details that you're letting your emotion outplay the logic of the business. pete: but this second, it hurts. i'm not gonna lie to you. lemonis: i understand how he's feeling right now, and it would hurt anybody.

it would hurt me, but i felt like the only way to get pete to the other side was to be aggressive, fast, and decisive and not waddle around like everybody else that walked around him with eggshells. amber: have you ever had to swallow your pride like you're asking pete to do right now? lemonis: all the time, especially with you. amber: bull[bleep]. lemonis: i sympathize with your frustration. i do, but in the end, what matters is that you make money, these people's jobs get saved, and the business survives, and it thrives! pete: you're right. lemonis: so i need you to go along with this process. do you trust me? pete: i trust you. maybe it was all the shock all together. lemonis: yeah, and it's a lot. i understand. it's hard to have change, but we need to have an understanding that every time you don't like something, you can't... pete: i'll just talk to you about it. lemonis: you can't storm off. pete: okay. lemonis: and you got to be able to channel that into positive things, and you've got to learn this business. okay? then let's go. let's get back to work, okay? ♪ i'm happy with what i've seen here.

i spent over a half a million dollars turning this place around. we've gotten rid of the distracting decor and murals and redesigned the layout so that every square inch of the place can be utilized to generate revenue. the customer lounge is now a full-range parts-and-accessories department. the showroom has been converted into a display area where customers can shop for vehicle upgrades like rims, tires, and suspension systems. with the grand opening right around the corner, we're adding the finishing touches to get automatch usa ready for its first customers. adding the parts-and-accessories department gave the store the ability to be more legitimate in both the employees' and the customers' eyes. as they're walking around or waiting for their car and service, they may buy new rims, new running boards, a variety of other accessories. i don't want people watching a movie and having popcorn. try to get this cleared because what i'm really worried about

is creating a pathway for people when they park. pete: i haven't seen it snow this bad in so long, and, of course, of all days, my luck, during the grand opening, and it sucks. these front here, i can't have big piles. see? it's starting to pile up. okay, bye. lemonis: hey, man. where's the hauler at? pete: said they're on their way. they'll be here within a 1/2 hour. lemonis: we're opening soon. pete: i know. i'm sorry. i know. they should have been here. they said they got stuck with the snow. lemonis: i mean, the fact that we're having the grand opening soon and we don't have all these cars here is a problem. this was legitimately a problem. we didn't factor on snow, but it's chicago, so we should kind of plan for it. pete: we should have had them come three hours earlier. lemonis: all right. well, let's make sure that everything else is right. [bleep]. there was a physical transformation to the space, and there was a transformation of pete.

pete: it's all yours. you run the department. you're gonna write all the checks. i will take a step back in that department. erika: good.

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♪ lemonis: i mean, the fact that we're having the grand opening soon and we don't have all these cars here is a problem. all right. well, let's make sure that everything else is right. [bleep]. [ truck horn honks ] one of the haulers just showed up, and we have a lot of cars to unload. pete: we've got to move. we're late. we've got to move. lemonis: pete is really working hard to get things done. pete: ooh, [bleep]. lemonis: he's making up for the late arrival. pete: marcus, all the cars are cleaned off of all the snow. lemonis: it looks good. i'll take the shovel,

and i'll go grab that section over there. hi, welcome. thanks for braving the weather. even though we were expected to get over 6 inches of snow... welcome to automatch usa. ...i started noticing a steady stream of customers arriving. pete: thank you for coming. lemonis: got a nice little crowd today. amber: is this the only grand opening you've done in a snowstorm before? lemonis: i think the answer is yes, and we didn't expect it. in fact, we had planned this grand opening on a saturday, and, yeah, we knew it was wintertime, and, yeah, i guess it was possible that there would be snow, but a week out, we looked at the forecast, and we had booked catering, a radio remote. what we didn't book was a snowstorm, but we got one. pete: one of the best days in my life. you're giving me something that money can't buy, and that's the process and doing things the way the dealership should have been. i feel so happy. i lost 15 pounds and not trying. lemonis: that's because i took a chunk out of your ass. i love to come to work. man: so you guys interested in the explorer here today? woman: yeah, it's a nice car. lemonis: i like what i see today.

automatch usa is filled with customers. our guys are working their butts off, and pete has been a selling machine. we've sold a lot of cars and a lot of accessories, and we've generated over $100,000 in sales in one day. amber: i like how he thanked you and it was genuine. lemonis: yeah, it was genuine. amber: he did appreciate you. do you know what happened to tony and pete after the show aired? pete and tony reconnected, and they settled things out, and things were fine. pete: can you have the gmc ready for tomorrow? man: we can do that. pete: thanks, guys. lemonis: we've been open for a month, and already, we've seen massive improvements. pete: it's all yours. you run the department. you're gonna write all the checks. i will take a step back in that department. erika: good. lemonis: i brought in a general manager with 30 years of experience to teach pete the car business. general manger: i'm gonna help you make a lot of money. pete: okay. lemonis: the inventory has gone from 20 cars to over 150 in inventory. we're averaging about 90 sales a month. it's only a matter of time before automatch usa is really profitable. pete: thank you very much. man: thank you.

amber: this is a gigantic transformation. would you say it's the biggest one in "profit" history? lemonis: no, i mean, i would say this is a big transformation, and what i liked about it was that there was a physical transformation to the space, and there was a transformation of pete really getting his head around the fact that there was a better way to do it, and over the next couple of years, we opened up a number of additional locations, and then we ended up selling it to a publicly traded company, and i got all my money back and a little bit more, and pete's moved on and he's gotten back into real estate and a bunch of other things, and i think he's doing pretty good. he had a baby. he's a good guy. he went into it the wrong way. amber: right. lemonis: but he came out of it the right way. when we found the business, it was probably doing less than 3 million a year, 2 million a year? and when i sold it, i think it was a 100-million-dollar business. amber: so you did well on this business? lemonis: yep. i got all my money back and then some. amber: good job, marcus. lemonis: thank you. amber: [ laughs ]

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