EXHIBIT 99.2

              Hometown Auto Retailers Announces Exchange Agreement

WATERBURY, Conn. - June 2, 2005 - Hometown Auto Retailers, Inc. (OTC BB: HCAR)
today announced that it has entered into an exchange agreement with the New
England subsidiaries of Hometown Auto and various members of the Shaker family.

Pursuant to the agreement, Hometown Auto will organize a new corporation to be
called Shaker Auto Group, Inc., with Hometown Auto initially owning all of the
stock of Shaker Auto Group. After the formation of Shaker Auto Group, Hometown
Auto will transfer to Shaker Auto Group all of the shares of stock of its New
England subsidiaries, plus $5 million in cash (subject to adjustment for
fluctuations in the value of certain assets and liabilities of the New England
subsidiaries). Immediately following this transfer, Hometown Auto will transfer
all of the outstanding shares of stock of Shaker Auto Group to various members
of the Shaker family in exchange for all of their shares of Class A common stock
and Class B common stock of Hometown Auto. Therefore, following these
transactions, Shaker Auto Group will be a privately-held company owned by
various members of the Shaker family, and will control the New England
subsidiaries.

The automobile franchises operated by the New England subsidiaries include:

o     Bay State Lincoln Mercury (Framingham, Mass.),
o     Brattleboro Chrysler Jeep Dodge (Brattleboro, Vt.),
o     Family Ford (Waterbury, Conn.),
o     Shaker's Lincoln Mercury (Watertown, Conn.),
o     Wellesley Mazda (Wellesley, Mass.),
o     Shaker's Auto Care (Naugatuck, Conn.).

The New England subsidiaries also include the following real estate holding
companies:

o     Baystate Realty (Framingham, Mass.), and
o     Brattleboro Realty (Brattleboro, Vt.).

Following the split-off of the above-described assets and liabilities to Shaker
Auto Group, Hometown Auto will operate the following automobile franchises:

o     Muller Chevrolet (Stewartsville, N.J.);
o     Muller Toyota (Clinton, N.J.), and
o     Toyota of Newburgh, (New Windsor, N.Y.).

The board of directors of Hometown Auto has unanimously approved the
transactions. In addition, stockholders owning a majority of the voting power of
the shares of stock of Hometown Auto have also approved the transactions.

The consummation of the transactions is subject to various contingencies. In
particular, Hometown Auto's manufacturers must approve the transfer of the
automobile franchises to Shaker Auto Group. In addition, various lenders must
consent to the release of Hometown Auto from certain liabilities and the
assumption of those liabilities by Shaker Auto Group.



In connection with the transactions, Hometown Auto anticipates that it will
secure a term loan of up to $6.5 million, with $5 million to be used for the
cash contribution to be made to Shaker Auto Group (as explained above), $700,000
for financing the split-off costs, and the $800,000 balance for working capital
for Hometown Auto.

Following the split-off, Hometown Auto will have a total of 3,845,153 common
shares, with William C. Muller, Jr. (and his immediate and extended family)
holding 367,500 Class A common shares and 776,752 Class B common shares of
Hometown Auto. [Note: Hometown Auto Class B common shares have 10 for 1 voting
rights versus Class A common shares which are voted on a 1 to 1 basis.]

For 2004 (ended December 31), the three dealerships to be retained by Hometown
Auto - Muller Chevrolet, Muller Toyota and Toyota of Newburgh - generated
pre-tax profit of $2.9 million, before allocation of corporate overhead, on
revenue of $129.4 million.

 "We believe this exchange is in the best interests of our shareholders," Corey
Shaker said. "We've come a long way in the last few years, generating a pre-tax
profit of $1.7 million in 2004 versus a pre-tax loss of $5.8 million in 2000. We
also negotiated a new floor plan financing agreement with Ford Motor Credit, as
well as successfully settled several litigation matters. Everyone on the
Hometown Auto team had a hand in helping to get Hometown Auto to where it is
today and have positioned both Hometown Auto and Shaker Auto Group for strong
futures. As a result, I look forward to the completion of the exchange."

"The three dealerships to be retained by Hometown Auto generated roughly half of
the revenues of the company and most of its profits for 2004," Muller said, the
regional vice president of Hometown Auto who has managed the three dealerships.
"These stores have consistently performed at the highest industry standards and
we are pleased to maintain them in the Hometown Auto fold. In addition, by
retiring the Shaker family shares, we will effectively cut in half the
outstanding shares of Hometown Auto. Taken in concert, we feel these actions
strongly position Hometown Auto for the future, and we look to continued success
as we move forward as a more tightly refined and aligned automotive retailer."

It is expected that Corey Shaker will maintain his positions as president and
CEO of Hometown Auto until the completion of the above-described transactions
creating the Shaker Auto Group, at which time Corey Shaker and other members of
the Shaker family will resign all positions with Hometown Auto. The company
expects that William C. Muller, Jr. will be named as Hometown Auto's new
president and CEO when these transactions are completed. Hometown Auto also
anticipates moving its headquarters to Stewartsville, N.J. after the
above-described transactions are completed.

Hometown Auto Retailers (www.htauto.com) sells new and used cars and light
trucks, provides maintenance and repair services, sells replacement parts and
provides related financing, insurance and service contracts through franchised
dealerships located in the northeastern United States.

This release contains "forward-looking statements" based on current expectations
but involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or
achievements may be materially different from those expressed or implied. The
company's plans and objectives are based on assumptions involving judgments with
respect to future economic, competitive and market conditions, its ability to
consummate, and the timing of acquisitions and future business decisions, all of
which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are
beyond the control of the company. Therefore, there can be no assurance that any
forward-looking statement will prove to be accurate.