Haydocy opening RV dealership on west side
Haydocy Automotive is hitching up to Airstream Inc.
The Columbus dealership group plans to open Haydocy Airstream and RV Center next to its west-side Buick and GMC dealership by April.
“We built our Oldsmobile dealership in 2000. A month later, (General Motors) announced they were phasing it out,” owner Chris Haydocy said. “We’ve sat with an empty showroom for years.”
That 15,000-square-foot building at 3865 W. Broad St. and the five acres it sits on will become a dealership for Jackson Center-based Airstream’s travel trailers and touring coaches. Haydocy said the fit is ideal given the overlap with GMC buyers. He said Holman Motors in Batavia has proven that as one of the top dealerships in the state for RVs and GMC trucks.
Also, there’s room in Columbus for a dealership. According to 2012 sales data from Statistical Surveys Inc., only three of the top 20 dealers in the state operate in Central Ohio – Specialty Auto Sales in Lancaster, RCD Sales Co. in Hebron and Tom Raper Inc. in London – and none of them cracked the top 10.
“Columbus is a starved market,” Haydocy said. “People in Franklin County buy, so there’s a huge pent-up demand for sales, service, parts.”
Airstream’s line of travel trailers and touring coaches runs from $35,000 to $139,000.
Haydocy said the investment will be several million dollars for improvements and inventory. He expects to add 20 jobs.
The new dealership has been in the works for more than two years.
“We had to wait for the right timing and frankly, that was Oct. 8, 2012,” he said, referring to the opening date for the neighboring Hollywood Casino Columbus. “There wasn’t a compelling reason to come to the west side before that.”
Haydocy said there is a fit with the casino because RV dealerships and casinos are destination draws, pulling visitors from other counties and states. Airstream has one other authorized dealer in the state, in Troy.
See the article at:
http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2013/02/06/haydocy-opening-rv-dealership-on-west.html?surround=etf&ana=e_article
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