http://www.tustinmazda.com/pages/page.cfm?pageid=86979&pagetype=30&featureid=-1
John Patterson admits that for prospective car buyers, going to a dealership can be a nightmare experience.
“People would rather go to a dentist,” he says, admitting that too often consumers have bad associations with going to dealerships, whether to buy a car or get service.
Patterson, president of Huntington Beach Mazda, hopes to change all that by providing an environment that his customers can actually be comfortable in.
The dealership just completed a $3 million renovation to become Orange County’s only — and just a handful in the nation — “Retail Revolution Store.” Call it the “anti-dealership,” if you will.
The ’70s-era building on Beach Boulevard that once was a Lincoln-Mercury dealership and which Patterson bought in 2007 now features bright colors, plenty of open space, free Wi-Fi access, a children’s play area, complimentary gourmet coffee, and a living-room-like area with a couch and large, flat-screen TV.
The dealer will also have on-site breakfast and lunch available for purchase to customers, the latter provided by Wahoo’s Fish Taco, whose owners Patterson is friends with.
“The whole basis is to provide creature comforts for our customers,” Patterson says.
“It’s casual and fits the beach community,” he says, pointing to the surf-themed artwork sprinkled throughout the 9,000-square-foot building.
The revamp, which started in August, came just as the auto-industry was imploding. In the coming months, it would see its worst decline in about three decades.
Still, Patterson, who also owns Tustin Mazda and was voted by his employees as one of Orange County’s kindest business owners, says his dealerships have fared much better than others, seeing sales that were essentially flat year over year.
“I don’t have delusions of grandeur,” he says. “We’ve seen a lot of patience (in buyers).”
Patterson is upbeat about the industry, though, and expects to have an “outstanding” May, which will have five weekends in the month.
For the long-term outlook, he predicts “a gradual but slow growth over the next 18 months.”
Starting this weekend and lasting through May, the Huntington Beach dealership will feature an open house-type atmosphere and raffle off prizes such as Angels season tickets, surfboards and works by local charcoal artist Dave Hobrecht.
Above all, Patterson says his “No. 1 priority is keeping customers No. 1,” and the renovation is part and parcel to that.
“The more comfortable someone can be in your facility, the more likely you are to see them again,” he says.
No comments:
Post a Comment