Dealership settles in at new location
Dealership settles in at new location
MOSES LAKE - A week after his business made a move to a brand-new location, an area automobile dealer says he's finding plenty of traffic.
C&V Auto owner Rich Childress was amazed at the amount of customer traffic the business receives since the operation made its move to Frontage Road. The former site on Pioneer Way is fairly bare, he said, so even if people weren't aware the company was moving, they are now.
The C&V operation opened in 1958, owned by Childress' father and a business partner.
The old location served its purpose in its day, Childress said.
"But Moses Lake is growing, and as a businessperson, you need to grow with it," he said. "It's unrealistic to think that a facility you invested money in 50 years ago was going to accommodate peoples' interest, peoples' likes and wants, in the year 2006."
For two days last week, the business shut down its garage unless a customer had an emergency situation, and opened full swing Nov. 1.
"It seemed to work out well, because we used the whole month of October to move," Childress explained. Workers tried to get their work done in the mornings, and used afternoons to make the move.
"We're getting the bugs worked out," Childress said.
The new location has a new computer system to increase efficiency, and the installers spent a week with staff as they got acclimated to the changes.
"It's working well with the new systems that we have, and the actual logistics of getting garbage cans in all the offices and those kinds of things, we just have to wade through."
But Childress said there weren't any real surprises. The dealership was fortunate to be able to anticipate anything that might arise, and he thanked the City of Moses Lake for helping to make the transition.
By displaying the dealership's vehicles differently, Childress said his company has been really happy with consumer response, without even trying to do much selling. The new location allows customers more room to walk around the cars than the old spot, or to see the cars when they drive by after business hours.
"We were kind of cramped. We just couldn't do a very good job," he said. "But people seem to have followed us right on out."
The business expanded its product lines by at least 30 percent, Childress estimated.
More employees were added, and hours Monday through Friday extended to be open until 7 p.m. It remains open until 6 p.m. Saturday.
"We're making an investment in ourselves and we're making an investment in Moses Lake," Childress said.
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