Fletcher Jones Motorcars in Newport Beach will be giving its 13-year-old building a facelift at the end of June.
The project, which includes building a VIP lounge, outdoor seating and a larger showroom, is expected to be finished by Thanksgiving.
Montvale, N.J.-based Mercedes-Benz USA LLC is requiring all of its dealerships to conform to the company’s Autohaus design. The design is standard for new dealers, including the 45,000-square-foot Foothill Ranch Mercedes-Benz dealership, which opened at the end of 2009.
Mercedes-Benz requires that all of its dealers start Autohaus construction by the end of the year. The automaker is paying for a portion of remodeling costs.
“We are enlarging the showroom significantly,” said Garth Blumenthal, general manager.
The dealer will enclose the patio area around the showroom.
A lounge will be added for customers waiting to pick up their new Mercedes. There will be a concierge person serving food and drinks.
“It will be much like what Qantas has for their first-class passengers in the Sydney airport,” Blumenthal said.
Fletcher-Jones will be expanding the Starbucks lounge area and adding outdoor seating with canopies and heaters that will replace the putting green.
The design coincides with improving sales.
May was a solid month for sales of new cars, Blumenthal said. Used car sales were slower, he said.
“It’s been pretty solid since July of last year,” Blumenthal said. “People seem to be more comfortable with making commitments than they were a year ago.”
The dealer has a few new models to sell, including the E-Class Cabriolet sedan and the SLS sportscar, which is helping drive people to the dealership.
The SLS, which has gull-wing doors hinged at the roof, goes for about $200,000.
Fletcher Jones recently opened a new dealership in Chicago, and last summer it opened Maui, Hawaii and Henderson, Nev. dealerships.
Fletcher Jones’ plans for Temecula and Ontario dealerships, which it expected to open last year, are on hold for now, Blumenthal said. The company owns lots in both cities.
“We have to look at the viability of any project we’re going to get involved in,” he said.
Blumenthal was set to have a stake in the Temecula dealership.
“There isn’t any clear decision on either project yet,” he said.
Decisions should come within the next few months, Blumenthal said.
Top in Nation
Fletcher Jones Motorcars and Crevier BMW took No. 1 and No. 6 spots in Ward’s Dealer 500, which ranks nationwide dealerships by sales.
Fletcher Jones Motorcars tops the list with $403 million in revenue for 2009, including $257 million in new automobile sales. Crevier BMW of Santa Ana had $255 million in sales for 2009, including $149 million in new auto sales.
Other OC dealers on that list include: No. 21 House of Imports, a Mercedes dealer based in Buena Park with $160 million in total revenue; No. 46 Toyota of Orange, $130 million; No. 59 Newport Lexus, $120 million; No. 166 Power Toyota Irvine, $87 million; No. 185 Newport Auto Center, $85 million; No. 187 Toyota of Huntington Beach, $85 million; No. 219 Tustin Lexus, $77 million; No. 246 South Coast Toyota, $72 million; No. 276 Elmore Toyota of Westminster, $68 million; No. 277 Honda World of Westminster, $68 million.
Chapman Forecast
Chapman University forecasts an increase in retail sales this year, which would be the first increase in three years.
The boost in retail spending is set to be driven by increases in personal income, lower debt rates, an improving housing market and an overall expanding—albeit slowly—economy.
Retail sales are expected to rise 4% this year to $33.8 billion, according to the midyear economic report by Chapman’s A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research.
In 2011, retails sales are expected to rise 6.4% to $36 billion. Retail sales include new autos, clothing, restaurants and furniture.
OC’s retail sales were $39 billion prior to the downturn.
New Stores
Henry’s Farmers Market opens at the Market Place on the Tustin side of the mall on Wednesday.
Also opening—on the Irvine side of the Market Place—is a 52,000-square-foot 24 Hour Fitness. The center will have two outdoor pools, which will take up 9,000 square feet.
The Block at Orange is holding a summer block party Saturday to promote its retailers, including its newest anchor tenant, H&M.
Westfield MainPlace in Santa Ana recently opened a few stores including Cotton On, an Australian retailer that sells trendy clothing, Best Buy Mobile, Shoeland and Home Paradise, a furniture store.
MainPlace has been promoting its tenants to shoppers with a program called Fab Finds.
In the common areas of the mall, MainPlace displays 10 products that are sold in the mall, and their prices, every week. Weekend greeters also hand out Fab Finds brochures to shoppers. MainPlace often themes the products to holidays, such as Father’s Day.
Retailers love it because it promotes products that can’t be displayed in a traditional fashion show, said Zanne Augur-Daniels, regional director of marketing.
