Springfield real estate icon Carol Jones is retiring from the business effective Friday.
The CEO of Carol Jones, Realtors broke the news to her 425 agents Nov. 4. She told Springfield Business Journal that she decided at the beginning of the year this would be her last at the helm of the company, because she has other personal interests she wants to pursue.
"I have a new grandbaby, and I'm tired," Jones said. "It's time for me to relax and smell the roses - be with my grandkids, see them in college. I want to see Christmas in New York City just once. I have big plans."
Jones added that the recent slowdown in the residential home sales market made now a good time to step away; she and General Manager Jim Bolin noted that there are no plans to hire anyone to fill her spot.
Jones said, however, that she plans to continue living in Springfield and will be happy to offer advice to her colleagues as needed.
"With the managers that we have, we'll continue to operate," Bolin said. "We'll still turn to Carol for guidance, obviously, but nothing will change from a day-to-day operational standpoint. Carol not being here is a huge loss, and we're not going to try to fill those shoes with anybody else right now."
Bolin, Michelle Cantrell and Jeannette Gibbons are the three managing brokers at the firm.
See SBJ's Nov. 10 issue for more on Carol Jones' retirement.[[In-content Ad]]
