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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Showrooms at auto dealerships changing

Changes are coming to auto row.

Several of the car dealerships that line East Sprague between Thierman and Argonne are either in the process of expansions and additions or have recently completed them.

The old Ethan Allen store has been torn down to make way for Gus Johnson Ford and Dishman Dodge has taken down the old Chapter 11 restaurant. A new Nissan showroom at Jaremko Nissan is as shiny as the new cars displayed inside it.

Gus Johnson is leasing the old furniture store site and plans to make it into a parking lot. “We’re just going to use it for lot space right now,” said Johnson. “It will give us a much better display advantage. We plan to display all of our used cars on that corner.”

Taking down the old building, which is just being completed, was complicated by the presence of asbestos. He estimates he’s spent $60,000 on the project so far, which doesn’t include the upcoming paving job. He expects that to be pricey, though he hasn’t gotten any bids back yet. “I’m not sure I even want to open them when they get here,” he said.

Johnson does have an option to buy the land, which he plans to do at some point. Within the next two years he plans to build a new showroom and entirely reconfigure the layout on his property. “It’s just one piece at a time,” he said.

Dishman Dodge built a new showroom a year ago, said owner Marti Hollenback. Now they need more parking space, so she purchased the former Chapter 11 restaurant and tore it down in December. That building also included hazardous asbestos that had to be removed.

The space will be paved for employee and customer parking. “We had hoped that we could close the deal soon enough to at least grade the ground before winter hit,” Hollenback said. The job will begin when the weather warms up. “Business has increased so drastically in the past two years, we just plain ran out of room.”

In a couple years Hollenback plans to put a two-bay car wash on the site. One bay will be open to the public and the other will be used to wash cars off the lot.

She estimates she’s spent more than $1 million on the project so far, which includes purchasing the land and tearing down the building.

Just down the road a bit the employees of Jaremko Nissan are relaxing in their new Nissan showroom. Construction began in August and employees worked in a temporary building while it was being built.

Owner Paul Jaremko is pleased with the work done by Garco Construction, which also built the new Saab showroom a year ago. “I’d also like to thank our employees for their patience and dedication,” he said. “This place was such a mess for so long.”

Jaremko Nissan used to have one showroom for the Nissan and Saab lines, said director of operations Greg Loberg. When both auto manufacturers said they wanted to have their own showroom, the building began. “We’ve been at this for four years,” Loberg said.

The Saab building cost $800,000 while the Nissan building, which included a remodel of the service department, came in at $1.2 million. “It’s a big investment. We’re looking forward to improving the sales with the new showrooms.

“Now we can focus back on business and not so much on the construction and remodeling.”

Valley Honda also recently completed a new showroom. The building, completed last February, topped out at almost $1 million, said general sales manager Bryan Barclay. It includes an area where customers can look up vehicle specifications online and a play room for kids with moves and video games. “It’s very customer friendly,” he said.