Area dealerships rev up renos
Showrooms, service areas blossom in 2012
When the books close on 2012, Capital Region new-car dealerships will have plenty to celebrate.
Edmonton Motor Dealer Association executive director Bob Vila says, “It’s been a really good year for our members. They’ve seen good growth and dealers are seeing a return to profitability, thanks to our strong economy here in northern Alberta.”
Besides five major new construction projects, there have been numerous expansions and renovations that have added tens of millions of dollars to the Edmonton area’s economy. And 2013 promises to be an equally busy year.
“We can expect four different import auto brands to break ground for new construction in 2013,” says Vila.
Here’s a summary of the major construction and renovation projects auto dealerships undertook in 2012:
Coach Auto Sales: Coach Auto Sales took over the facility at 17431 102nd Ave. vacated by Westend Suzuki in 2011. The new enterprise specializes in selling pre-owned vehicles. Derrick Dodge Chrysler Jeep Fiat (6211 104th St.): A 2,400 sq. ft. new-car showroom for Fiat sales was completed and construction began on a drivethru lube bay/service area.
Denny Andrews Ford Sales Inc.
(18208 Stony Plain Rd.): This $800,000 major facelift started earlier this year will grow into another phase in 2013. So far, the interior walls, floors and windows have been upgraded to Ford’s corporately mandated Millennium image.
Another renovation will start in January. The dealership will be adding another 6,500 square feet to house a six-bay Quick Lane service and a touchless car wash. Construction should be finished by June.
Don Wheaton Chevrolet (10727
82nd Ave.): An important landmark on Edmonton’s trendy Whyte Avenue, the company undertook one its biggest renovations since opening for business.
Special attention has been paid to ensure the design details fit into the streetscape, such as the retro look neon signage that was negotiated with city officials.
The renos have created three showroom areas — one each for Chevrolet, Buick/GMC and Cadillac — which can hold 35 new vehicles. Don Wheaton is the only full-line General Motors dealership (carrying Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac) north of Calgary.
The entire shop area has also been modernized and several service stalls, a new tool room with computerized retrieval system and wheelchair ramps have been added, along with high-speed opening doors for the eight-stall drive-thru.
Edmonton BMW (7450 Roper Rd.): An expansion of the service department is nearing completion, adding some 21,000 sq. ft. to the original 40,000-sq. ft. building. The extra floor space provides a new, separate service entrance for Mini, nine new service bays, eight to 10 more programming bays (used for re-programming cars’ computers after repairs or changes are made to components that interact with vehicles’ computer systems), heated storage for customers’ tires, on-site windshield repair and detailing bays. Gateway Toyota (3030 Gateway Blvd.): This is another landmark dealership; it has conducted business at its southside location since 2003. A new store is being built on the west side of Gateway Boulevard south of Ellerslie Road, slated for completion by July. The $24-million facility will encompass a 68,000-sq. ft. building on a 10-acre site. The dealership will house a twenty-two-vehicle showroom, and the service department will comprise thirty-four service bays, a quick-lube bay, two wheel-alignment bays, two express service bays and eight detailing bays. Sept. 1 is the target for opening. Jaguar- Land Rover Edmonton/Norden Porsche (17820 Stony Plain Rd.): Construction of a new store that will house Jaguar-Land Rover Edmonton and Norden Porsche started at the end of the summer at 170th Street and 111th Avenue. On a threeacre site, the 48,000-sq. ft. building will have clearly defined areas for each marque. The company expects the new facility to open for business some time in 2013. Koch Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd. (5121 Gateway Blvd.): A major $4-million showroom renovation started this year at south-side Koch, where the family-run dealership has been operating since 1967. The modernization will bring the store up to date and consistent with the Millennium standard, Ford’s new corporate image program. Under construction are a new, two-storey 10,000sq. ft. showroom (featuring a separate entrance for Lincoln customers and a second drivethru service bay) and a 2,000sq. ft. expansion to the service department.
Leduc Chrysler Ltd. (6102 46A St., Leduc): This is the dealership’s first major modernization since 2006. The company is adding some 10,000 sq. ft., nearly doubling the size of the service department. Besides new shop space, the much needed expansion will make room for five more service bays, one oil change bay and a six-vehicle heated, enclosed service drive-thru as well as a new customer lounge. The showroom will also get increased capacity from six vehicles to nine. The project is expected to be completed in May. Lexus of Edmonton (11204 170th St.): This west-end dealership undertook a $1.7-million expansion of its service department earlier this year, adding more than 6,000 sq. ft. to house two quick-lube bays, four auto detailing bays and one full service bay. Plus, the dealership started a $2.5-million addition that will add 4,000 sq. ft. to the building for increased showroom space and a new customer lounge on the second floor. Nisku Ford. (1912 2nd St.): This was the second ground-up, newly constructed dealership to open in the Capital Region in 2012.
Co-owners Bob Wispinski and Neil Reid with business partner Art Barry were the trio of businessmen behind Art Barry Ford Sales, a dealership operating in Leduc since 1992. The partners re-branded the company as Nisku Ford and built a new, state-of-theart facility in Nisku. The new 26,000-sq. ft. facility sits on four acres and houses a fivevehicle showroom, twenty service bays (including four detailing/quick service bays), two oil change bays, and an eight-vehicle covered dropoff area. Construction of the $5.6-million facility started in October, 2011 and the dealership opened to the public in mid-September of this year. Rally Subaru (5220 Gateway Blvd.): Rally Subaru vacated its old premises on 34th Avenue and opened on Gateway Boulevard on June 1st in the building formerly occupied by Southgate Volkswagen. The renovated building (21,000 sq. ft.) now features a showroom spacious enough to display eight new vehicles and the service department now has twelve service bays including a steering alignment bay. Construction and signage was completed in late summer and a grand opening celebration was held in late November.
Sherwood Park Chevrolet (500 Premier Way, Sherwood Park): Nicholson Chevrolet has been a landmark at 72nd Street and Argyll Road in Edmonton for forty years, but in mid-September the Chevrolet dealership changed its name to Sherwood Park Chevrolet and reopened in Sherwood Park.
The new facility makes Sherwood Park Chevrolet one of the largest single point (exclusively Chevrolet) dealerships in Western Canada, with 40,000 sq. ft. of building space on five acres of land. It boasts a 20-new-vehicle showroom and twenty-two service bays (including a two-bay quick lube facility), and a four-vehicle enclosed drive-thru. South Pointe Lexus (830 100th St.): Construction of South Pointe Lexus, Edmonton’s second Lexus store, is complete and the target for opening day is the end of this month. The dealer principal is Jim Jiwani, who is also the businessman behind Mayfield Toyota. South Pointe Lexus general manager Farid Shivji says the new store is the largest Lexus outlet in Canada, with 52,000 sq. ft. of floor space, a large 20-vehicle showroom, a glass tower architectural feature to display twelve new vehicles on four levels, a bistro and a golf simulator that customers can book for use when having their cars serviced. South Pointe Lexus is the sixth newcar dealership in the Ellerslie Road and Gateway Boulevard area, joining Capital Jeep Dodge Ram Fiat, Mills Nissan, Southgate Audi, Southgate Volkswagen, and Volvo of Edmonton. Southside Mitsubishi (9605 34th Ave.): Early this summer, this dealership opened an outdoor quick charge station for its allelectric i-Miev car customers. Here, the ultracompact Mitsubishi electric car can get an 80-per-cent charge in less than 30 minutes. Dealership spokesperson Mike Kachkar says that even though the station was built for i-Miev, owners of the all-electric Leaf built by competitor Nissan are more than welcome to visit the store and charge their car at no cost.