Bud Clary dealership 'poised to grow'
Lynne Lynch/Columbia Basin Herald In late May, Bud Clary Toyota Chevrolet on Frontage Road near Moses Lake experienced a unit sales increase of between 5 percent and 10 percent as compared to two years ago, said Doug Christiansen, the store's general manager.
MOSES LAKE — Four months after opening a new location in Moses Lake, Bud Clary Toyota Chevrolet watched GM and Chrysler start reducing its dealerships nationwide.
Bud Clary wasn’t one of those dealers, but expects there will be an increase in business from the reductions in dealers, said Doug Christiansen, general manager of the Moses Lake Bud Clary store.
Just in May, the business experienced a unit sales increase of between 5 to 10 percent as compared to two years ago, he said.
The store was moving on a record pace in May, which he attribute to a new level of customer service the Bud Clary group insists on, Christiansen said.
He also attributed their success of having a long-standing reputation of keeping customers happy so they keep coming back, he said.
They’re doing their best to resolve customer concerns from the past ownership, Christiansen said. One example he provided was providing a free oil change to meet an obligation that wasn’t theirs, he added.
He feels the dealership is gaining a reputation in town of being an easy place to do business with, he said.
Currently, the dealership’s goal is to provide a quick service turnaround for farmers, who lose money when their work is stopped, Christiansen explained.
Locally, the somewhat insulated economy appears to be headed toward improvement.
He said people the business talked to in the region are beginning to see a small uptick in the economy.
For the last few months, Christiansen said he felt the local economy has been in a “suspended animation state.”
“We believe throughout the year, the economy and business will continue to improve one customer at a time.”
The business currently serves Moses Lake, Warden, Ephrata, Othello, Soap Lake and George.
“I think Bud Clary is poised to grow as the community grows,” he said.
And buying locally means there’s the benefit of not leaving town to shop, as 1.4 percent of local tax dollars stay in Grant County, he said.
“I think more than anything else, when consumers shop outside the county, tax dollars for fire and police go outside the county,” Christiansen explained.