EXHIBIT 31.1
                                 CERTIFICATION

I, Corey E. Shaker, certify that:

1. I have  reviewed  this  quarterly  report  on  Form  10-Q  of  Hometown  Auto
Retailers, Inc.

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact  necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the  circumstances  under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3.  Based  on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other  financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial  condition,  results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.  The  registrant's  other  certifying  officers  and  I are  responsible  for
establishing and maintaining  disclosure  controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal  control over financial
reporting  (as defined in Exchange Act Rules  13a-15(f) and  15d-15(f))  for the
registrant and have:

      (a)  Designed  such  disclosure  controls and  procedures,  or caused such
      disclosure  controls and procedures to be designed under our  supervision,
      to ensure that material information relating to the registrant,  including
      its consolidated subsidiaries,  is made known to us by others within those
      entities,  particularly  during the  period in which this  report is being
      prepared;

      (b) Designed such internal  control over  financial  reporting,  or caused
      such internal  control over  financial  reporting to be designed under our
      supervision,  to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of
      financial  reporting  and the  preparation  of  financial  statements  for
      external  purposes  in  accordance  with  generally  accepted   accounting
      principles;

      (c) Evaluated the  effectiveness of the registrant's  disclosure  controls
      and  procedures  and  presented in this report our  conclusions  about the
      effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures,  as of the end of
      the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

      (d)  Disclosed  in this  report  any change in the  registrant's  internal
      control over  financial  reporting that occurred  during the  registrant's
      most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected,  or is reasonably
      likely to  materially  affect,  the  registrant's  internal  control  over
      financial reporting; and

5. The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent  evaluation of internal  control over  financial  reporting,  to the
registrant's  auditors  and the audit  committee  of the  registrant's  board of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

      (a) All significant  deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or
      operation  of  internal   control  over  financial   reporting  which  are
      reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's  ability to record,
      process, summarize and report financial information; and

      (b) Any fraud, whether or not material,  that involves management or other
      employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control
      over financial reporting.

May 13, 2004                              /s/ Corey E. Shaker
                                          -------------------------------------
                                          Corey E. Shaker
                                          President and Chief Executive Officer

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