Superior Auto prepares for grand opening
Gus and Andrea Palmar are getting ready to officially unveil their new Superior Automotive facility, a multi-million dollar, multiple-brand new car and truck dealership in Uniontown. Located atop a 32-acre site overlooking Route 40 west, the new Superior Auto facility will offer sales and service for Nissan, Honda, Ford, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge cars and trucks in three new 18,000-square-foot buildings. There is also a used car center and, as phase two of the project gets underway, the Palmars will add another as-yet-unnamed dealership to their line and two more dealership buildings.
“We will have from 400 to 500 new cars on stock at any one time,’ Gus said.
“We are going to have our grand opening through the entire month of October,’ he added.
The Palmars started their automotive business in Uniontown when they bought the former National Ford dealership in April 2001. They leased the building on Route 40 west, moving out on Sept. 16.
After buying the property for the new site from the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority, they broke ground in February 2004, followed by construction.
“What we have are three mirror-image franchises,’ Gus said. “The customer will find everything exactly in the same place in each building, although they will represent different manufacturers,’ he added. Each building also provides enclosed service, drive-up and vehicle delivery areas.
“Everything is totally designed to keep the customer out of the elements. And so far, we have gotten a good reception.’
While Andrea Palmar said the investment in the business “is a lot,’ Gus has quoted the figure at around $13 million. Superior has also increased its staff from about 60 to 150 employees.
“It has been a challenge,’ Gus said of the project, “but after initial concerns and obstacles were overcome everybody benefits.’ He said he got much help from state Sen. Richard Kasunic, PennDOT and the county Redevelopment Authority in the process.
Part of the project included installing a new traffic light on Route 40 and building an entrance off that highway.
“This was the right time to bring this to Fayette County with the growth that’s going on here and with what Mr. (Joe) Hardy has been doing,’ Gus said, referring to the millions Hardy, a Fayette County commissioner and owner of 84 Lumber Co., has been pouring into the area’s revitalization program.
Until this summer, Superior Auto sold Ford, Chrysler and Jeep products from its former site on West Main Street. In June, Superior purchased Dunbar Honda/Nissan, adding those brands to its line. “We kept all the staff from that sale and even added a few more people.’
Gus explained that in the second phase of the project, he will build two more mirror-image buildings, one to house Nissan and the second to house the unnamed import. “It’s one that is not in this area,’ he said.
“We have also added a quick service line,’ Andrea said, that will provide oil changes, tire rotation, inspections and other services in under two hours. It is located at the Ford facility but is open to all makes and models of vehicles.
“We will also be open for Saturday service,’ she said.
“If things go as planned, we are going to open a 50s style diner up here, too,’ Gus added.
Plans are in place to build an SUV off-road driving track and a golf driving range as well.
The Palmars explained they are building on the “big-box’ industry trend where megaplexes offer a variety of makes under one umbrella and at one site. “That is taking hold in the East Coast,’ Gus said.
“This is pretty much the future in auto sales, to have the synergy all in one place with the benefits going to the customer. They have more options,’ he said, in a world where car customers can choose from more than 2,000 different models across the brand spectrum.
“For example, you can get a Ford F-150 pickup in 44 different configurations.’
However, while the Palmars said brand loyalty is not as strong as it once was with car buyers, it remains with those who buy pickup trucks.
“You can’t put a Dodge guy into a Ford truck, and you can’t put a Ford guy into a Dodge truck. But there is very little brand loyalty in cars. People are looking for price, although there is more loyalty for import brands rather than domestic.’
Gus has also worked diligently to make sure that everything bid out for the work building the new auto center has gone to local companies. General Industries, based in Charleroi, is the principal contractor. Gus said subcontractors have included Casteel Electric, Hranec HVAC and Golden Eagle Construction, all local firms.
“That keeps the jobs here, and that’s important to this community,’ he said.
“We are very excited about this. We have been very fortunate. In the three years we have done business here, we have had a double-digit increase (25-28 percent) in volume,’ Gus said.
“We are here for the long haul,’ Andrea added, “and we want to make sure we can meet our customers’ needs.’
Besides Superior Auto, the Palmars own Pontiac-Buick-GMC Truck in Morgantown, W.Va., and recently opened Priceless Rent-A-Car in Uniontown.
Born in Venezuela and educated there and in Germany, Palmar began in the car business in 1981, “washing cars,’ he said.
“Then I went into sales for four years and from there began working as ad director. I ran dealerships for the past four or five years,’ before coming to Uniontown in 2001.
For more information on Superior Auto, call 724-437-4585 or visit its Web site at www.superiordeal.com.