For Ross, the remodeling is a milestone. Work began early in 2011 with the remodeling of the Mercedes dealership and continued with the building of her newest store, Fiat. The Buick-GMC remodeling was the last of the three.
In the end, nearly every part of each store, inside and outside, was somehow touched by the remodeling.
The footprints of the Fiat and Mercedes dealerships did not change, but the Mercedes showroom was “bulldozed” and rebuilt from the ground up, Ross said. The Mercedes service and parts operations were renovated. Furnishings were updated as well.
Longtime Ross shoppers will remember that the Fiat building was originally built for the GMC dealership. When Ross sold the Hummer store, the GMC franchise was moved into the Buick building. What had been the GMC/Hummer store is now the auto group’s used car site.
Ross said the investment was substantial, but declined to give a more precise figure. “I feel that all of the facilities look outstanding in terms of what we’ve done, in terms of complying with what they (automakers) were wanting,” she said.
Each store had to meet requirements of its respective automaker, she said. The Fiat store is meant give a visitor a feeling of visiting Italy, while Buick/GMC and Mercedes have their own lofty standards. General Motors required the remodeling for the dealership to be a “go-forward” dealer or a dealer continuing to operate after GM’s 2009 bankruptcy she said. In that upheaval, more than 1,000 GM dealers were closed, purchased or merged into other dealers nationally.
Sales have been brisk, even through the construction work. The group saw sales increase 10 percent in 2012 over 2011, and sales are up 20 percent for the first quarter of 2013.
For Ross, it’s all about giving customers and employees the best experience possible.
“We take what we do very seriously,” she said.
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