The dealership, which sells Buick and GMC vehicles, had originally been located since 1932 at 2531 Dixie Hwy. in Hamilton.
The new location isn’t much larger than the original one, but it’s better designed, said Tom Fiehrer, the company’s president and a third-generation owner.
“When you start out as a small garage and you expand and add over 80 years, the efficiencies of how everything is laid out is just not put together very well,” he said.
The new space includes a retail accessories counter preceded by a cafe and social lounge, complete with couches, a coffee and tea brewing machine and a large, flatscreen television.
There’s even a glassed-off area to keep children occupied during a visit to the dealership. A “quiet room” to the side features four leather chairs, a selection of reading material and the opportunity to confer with friends or family in private before deciding on a purchase.
An indoor delivery showroom on Fiehrer Motors’ south side is designed to bring a vehicle to the consumer while paperwork is being signed.
There’s also a side garage for retail customers to bring in their vehicles for maintenance without having to walk through the servicing area and a side window for wholesale customers to pick up parts without having to park and walk to the building.
The showroom itself is about the same size as the previous location and able to display about seven vehicles, but the new design allows for employee cubicles to be located on the showroom floor to allow for better customer service.
Fiehrer Motors’ new location has room for 425 cars on its 6-acre lot, about 100 vehicles more than at the Dixie Highway location.
The move shifted the dealership’s 44 employees into the township and is planned to boost staffing by 15 percent to 20 percent, he said.
The new location is adjacent to Ohio 129 and nestled between Menards to the west and Kohl’s, Office Depot and H.H. Gregg to the east, providing a better draw than Dixie Highway, based on a demographic study of both areas, Fiehrer said.
“It was just a night and day difference,” he said. “The demographics of education, household income and where those people travel for retail business, they were just not unfortunately traveling to Route 4 in Hamilton.”
Stopping by to purchase a 2012 Buick Enclave after trading in their 2010 edition, Bill and Connie Getz of Hamilton said they were impressed by the new space.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Bill Getz, who started purchasing vehicles from the dealership in 1995. “It’s really going to be a lot of good growth for Fiehrer (Motors) with the exposure of the highway and it’ll attract people from West Chester and Fairfield townships.”
For more information, visit www.fiehrermotors.com or call 513-863-8111.
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