Trekking successfully after all these years

Since December 1991, Fletcher Jones Motor Cars has called Newport

Beach its home. In 1995, the city gave an eight-acre parcel to the

dealership, betting that the investment would pay off. In January, city

officials declared that move a resounding success when reports showed the

dealer had brought in $6.6 million in taxes over a five-year period --

$4.6 million more than they had hoped for when they made the deal.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Fletcher Jones is the nation’s No. 1

Mercedes-Benz dealership and confirmed that reputation by setting a

record with its first-quarter sales figures earlier this year. By year’s

end, the dealership may haul in about a half-billion in revenues.

On Wednesday, the dealership’s general manager, Garth Blumenthal, sat

down with City Editor James Meier to discuss the dealership’s success,

the city’s Greenlight law and a slight expansion.

Q: Fletcher Jones is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and

started the year with a bang with a record-setting first quarter with

$107 million in revenue. What’s made the dealership so successful?

A: One of the main reasons, obviously, is we have a dedicated team

here that understands customer care and customer service, and we try to

treat everyone like they’re guests in our home for the first time. We’re

continually raising our standards. Even if it’s only a 1% improvement per

month, it adds up over a year of time.

Obviously, we’re in an affluent market. We believe that as our cars

have become more affordable, we’ve been able to draw more prospective

buyers, and I think one of the main reasons is they’re attracted to the

convenience and preferred buyer program, like the airport shuttle, free

hand carwashes and loaner cars, and free hardtop storage during the

warmer months. That program has been very well-received.

And the fact that Mercedes-Benz has such a wide variety of cars.

There’s a big choice in what you can buy in a Mercedes-Benz product.

We’re always looking for new, innovative ways to improve client

service and looking at other companies like Disney, Wal-Mart, Southwest

Airlines, Nordstrom and the Ritz-Carlton hotel group. We’re looking at

the best practices in other industries and adopting some of their best

standards.

We’ve also made a great use of consultants in different fields to

improve how we handle incoming phone calls and our executive leadership

development.

We made a lot of changes two years ago as we foresaw an economic

slowdown and we wanted to continue to grow our business with better ways

to organize our business.

Also, we’re successful because we’re in a unique area economically,

and there’s huge potential. We’ve been very fortunate.

Q: How did you guys do in the second quarter?

A: We won’t receive the actual numbers until Monday, but we are up

this quarter, too, over last year’s figures.

Q: Do you have any thoughts on the city’s Greenlight law and

slow-growth attitude?

A: There has to be a balance between development and taking care of

the environment. I’m the sure the city will be responsible with both and

will set aside green space.

We plan to expand at another site that we own at 1301 Quail St. (the previous site of Fletcher Jones Motor Cars) in about two years. It will

be an area where we can move some of our work that we do internally with

our new and pre-owned vehicles, thereby freeing more service bays for our

clients’ cars. That way, they won’t have wait times for services. They’ll

be able to get in the next day.

One of the reasons we’ve been really successful is because the owner

has instilled discipline. We have meetings every week. We have management

meetings, service meetings. We test drive the pre-owned vehicles on

Thursdays before the weekend so we can work on them before the weekend.

We’re constantly trying to improve ourselves.

Q: There was a point at which complaints were made about the

dealership’s lights being too bright for the Back Bay. Has that been

entirely resolved?

A: We haven’t had any complaints in a number of years. We stepped the

lights down so there’s still security there, but they’re not as bright.

Q: Last year, you sold about $424 million worth of cars. Do you have

any predictions for this year?

A: About 10% to 20% on top of that. We hope to get to $500 million

soon enough. Right now, we’re tracking to do about $225 million through

the first six months.

We are going to have an incredibly strong last four months of the

year. In the last quarter, the new E-Class series will be out with a new

design. We’ll also have a new two-door CLK coupe. They’re going to drive

our sales to new levels. It’s not something that’s going to be easy to

do, but it’s something we’re striving to do.

Q: Were you amazed with the first-quarter revenue?

A: I won’t say I’m amazed. We set targets and goals. We’re No. 1. It’s

like being part of a championship team like the Lakers. Everyone works

hard toward that.

Q: Do you have any final thoughts?

A: The dealership and its owner appreciate the community and give back

to the community. We support different schools and charities, such as the

March of Dimes. We sponsor many things that have to do with children.

We also hope people of this area continue to support us and provide us

feedback on how we’re doing. The feedback is invaluable. We don’t want a

situation where we rest on our laurels and grow complacent. We listen to

our clients’ needs and what they feel about the job we’re doing. That’s

more invaluable than anything. We don’t want complacency to set in. We

want to continue to improve and provide our customers with great service.

One good thing is we’re privately owned. The decisions we make don’t

have the pressures from shareholders. We make decisions that are right by

the customers’ point-of-view. We’re making decisions that are right in

the long term with our customers and our team members.

If we take care of our employees and they take care of our clients, we

hope the numbers will be spectacular. The team members need to feel

respected and empowered. They’ll take care of our clients, and they’ll be

rewarded for that. A lot of big corporations get that backward.

I think it’s important to point out that we’re privately owned. We’re

not part of a bigger auto group. This is a business where we’re hands-on

here every day. That’s probably a big reason why people continue to

support us.

The Fletcher Jones Automotive Group started in L.A. in 1946 with a

used car lot right after World War II. We’ve been around a long time, and

we’re committed to the Mercedes-Benz brand.

Just last month, Fletcher Jones bought six dealerships in downtown

Chicago. We also have dealerships in Las Vegas. We’ll be around for a

long time.

BIO

Age: 44

Position: General manager for eight years

Residence: Newport Beach since 1983 and Balboa Peninsula for six years

Education: Bachelor’s degree in sociology and political science from

the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa

Family: Wife of five years Tracy; children Alexis, 8, and Garth Jr., 2

Hobbies: Travel, watching basketball and soccer, golf, enjoying fine

dining, theater and movies, and powerboats