When your dealership relies on the theatrics of a lodge-style facade, an aquarium, and even a waterfall (along with much more) to sell vehicles, we imagine it can be rather difficult to change those ways. Such is the case of Marc Heitz Chevrolet in Norman, Oklahoma, which came under fire from General Motors itself for not conforming to Chevrolet’s design standards.
Heitz’s design is so elaborate that it cost $20 million to construct the facility in 2008. But less than three months ago, Chevrolet sales chief Don Johnson visited the facility, where it was then finalized that the dealer would miss out on $250,000 per quarter in benefits from GM’s Essential Brand Elements program. As a result, Heitz sold his dealership to rival David Stanley, who currently runs a rival Chevrolet dealership, according to Automotive News. Terms were not disclosed, and it’s not quite clear at this time if Stanley plans on giving the building a toned-down makeover or keeping it looking like a Bass Pro Shops.
Hietz claimed that his Chevrolet dealer was the 15th best-selling Chevrolet dealership in America and third in overall Corvette sales.
Comments
I can understand GM for wanting their dealerships to have a similar design but with a dealership as unique as this and with great sales they should have left them alone.
They did leave them alone. However they took the money to redo their facilities to meet the common design theme RECOMMENDED by GM. They do not have to make the changes but if they want the money they have to.
GM has more important things to worry about when it comes to dealers. They could start by insuring that the dealer has qualified sales and technical people who actually know about the car they are selling and mechanics that actually know how to fix them. Insuring that the customer is treated exceptionally is what they need to focus on.
I agree that GM has bigger things to worry about. Like ENSURING quality service and producing vehicles that people actually want. But GM has not paid attention to what works and what doesn’t work for a very long time. And when they finally got people in place that do know, those people tended to leave suddenly. If the Car Czar and his team had taken this same approach (ie, shut it down because it does not look like what we want) then GMC would have been history. Frankly, left up to me GMC would have been history, but alas its profitable, so concessions can be made…
The $250,000 is given to the dealers to make facility revisions to meet the common dealership recommendations. They do not have to make the revisions but then they cannot get the facility improvement money if they do not do what the money is for.
As far as dealer service, GM does have great programs. When was the last time there was an article here on poor service? Again GM has a separate monetary award program for sales and service quality.
Evidently people knew the dealer sold Chevys even though the building was unique. GM should worry more about the product inside rather than the look of the building outside.
He didn’t really sell the building because of the style, but because he wanted to move to Hawaii. I live pretty near by, and I was looking at Corvettes for a Centennial edition there recently.
GM doesnt have a clue on how to run a dealership. Never have, never will. They sit in the ivory tower and are out of touch with the buying public. I have sold their product for over 35 years. They need to concentrate on the product, building in quality and most importantly getting the price of the products down!! The trucks are over priced and are far behind our competitors.
The GM look is fricking ugly. I think this dealership looks fantastic. I worked at was at one time the biggest show room east of the Mississippi. It was very elegant looking and all brick. We could get 30 vehicles in the showroom and people really enjoyed shopping in side when the weather was bad. Guess what they forced the owner to sell and the new butt head remodeled and covered up the very expensive elegant brick. The place now looks trashy with the “GM” look.
Richard get over it. Get off the dump GMC kick. GMC is one of the more profitable divisions. Besides Buick dealers would be out of business if they didnt have GMC. I have sold both GMC & Cheby over the past 35 years. Guess what?? The kind of client that GM wants to attract to the showrooms, want GMC over cheby. If I had a $1000 for every comment I heard about liking GMC over cheby I would be retired and living on a private island!!!!!!
The old GM logic is still alive and well. They have always been excellent at “screwing up a one car parade. With the exception of Corvette the product is still “iron”. Good product is what sells, with good trustworthy service personnel. The building is only a minor part of the equation.
Dealerships are privately ran and unfortunately many Chevy dealerships are poorly operated; thankfully GM is begining to question business practices at its dealerships. A dealer experience can define a customers brand loyalty for a lifetime. When GM fully recognizes this and completely reformats its dealer network the fruit it bears will be incredible.
But in this case, its one of the top dealers. This is the guy they shouldn’t be messing with. I would rather have unique dealers like this one, then the boring sameness that GM is forcing.
It is a fantastic looking showroom. Marc has always got about 4 or 5 Beautiful restored cars inside too. He does open houses a couple times and does a charity BBQ. They host a Corvette roundup and do try and give back to the local car culture.
I think besides not “Changing a 4 year old Dealership” GM wanted other things to be a “Team Player” and that is what did the deal. Marc did the big build, right when the bailout happened too and he excelled. GM wants to fix something not broken.
Frankly, Chevrolet’s look looks about as inviting as a 1990’s Burger King. I so don’t look forward to shopping at one.
i THINK ITS ALL WRONG,,,I WORK AT A DEALER IN A REMOTE AREA AND THEY WANT TO DO 800,000 IN COSMETIC WORK ,,,, WE HAVE APROX. 12000 PEOPLE IN THE COUNTY ,,, THEY ARE NOT CARING FOR THE CUSTOMER OR THE PRODUCT ITS ALL ABOUT CONTROL,,, I WILL BE OUT OF A JOB BECAUSE OF SELFISH WHITE COLLAR IDIOTS THAT KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BUSINESS ,, HOW CAN A COMPANY THAT WENT BANKRUPT HAVE THE BA–S TO TELL A COMPANY THAT HAS BEEN IN BUSINESS FOR OVER 100 YRS TO SPEND THAT KIND OF MONEY AND IT WILL TAKE ALMOST A LIFETIME TO RECOVER ……
Gotta tell you…I am on my 10th vette in the last 24 years and I have rarely done repeat business at one particular dealer. Oh, I give them a chance but there is ALWAYS someone who will give me a better deal, and it usually takes 4-6 hours in a dealership to cut a deal, but, in the end, it is price that gets me to buy, because any dealer is obligated to do service work as well as warranty work, and I only go to the dealerships that have world class certified vette mechanics when I ever need work, which is seldom because I buy every 3rd year. What the place looks like does not matter a bit to me, as long as they get me the best price. It is obvious to me over the past 4o years that you get no credit for customer loyalty at any particular dealership. The dealership that sponsors our Club has never sold a Vette to any of the 100 members, even though they tell us that we would get a discount etc…it is going to be the kerbecks of the world that sell the cars because they do volume and do not try to suck the life out of you.