Expanding used car options in Steinbach

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This article was published 14/03/2015 (3783 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The former Fountain Tire building on Highway 12 North in Steinbach has changed a lot to accommodate a growing used car dealership. Ben R Auto has taken over the building and renovated the space to fit the growing needs of the business.

Ben R. Loewen had plans to expand his dealership a few years down the road. The Fountain Tire building, which was next to his small property, came up for sale and Loewen jumped at the opportunity to grow.

While he was waiting for this opportunity, Loewen had plans to build a shop on the smaller lot to allow for space to fix vehicles. The 900 sq-ft. office building was adequate and there was enough space to have a good inventory of vehicles on the lot.

“The plan was to build a shop in a couple of years. Meanwhile, I was looking at the Fountain Tire building and hoping it would come up for sale someday,” said Loewen. “I had inquired about it a few times to make sure I was on top of it.”

After the purchase was made, Loewen needed to assemble a team to come up with a plan to repair and renovate the 10,000 square foot building which was showing its age. The roof was in need of dire repair with holes and cracks that allowed water to drip through.

It was finally decided that the best option was to construct a new roof over the old one. Multiple windows were also installed in the south end of the building to bring more natural light into the new office space.

The shop is located in the centre of the building with multiple bays to accommodate several vehicles for repairs and cleaning.

A tire shop is situated in the north end of the building where Lyndon Fehr runs a separate business under the Ben R umbrella.

“This building is quite a bit larger than what we anticipated moving into,” Loewen noted. “It’s a huge step from there to here. But we owned the adjacent property and needed a shop so we did everything we could to buy it.”

This also meant formulating a business plan that made sense. Loewen is pleased with how the details worked out to have a good looking building with great service options for motorists in the Steinbach area.

“It was the ultimate dream in some ways, to be able to do what we’ve done here but I thought it was maybe 10 or 15 years down the road. I didn’t think it would happen so soon but it worked out.”

Loewen gave a lot of thought to the 4,000 sq-ft. at the north end of the building. He had wanted to start up another business but felt it made most sense to rent out the space.

“Then Lyndon Fehr became available and I offered that he could start his own business within our business. That’s what has happened here.”

Fehr runs the tire business and has experience in the performance area such as lift kits and wheel packages for trucks.

The lot has space for 200 vehicles which is double the usual number of cars on the lot. Ben R Auto sold 419 cars last year in line with the steady growth the dealership has noticed.

“So we’ve evolved into a significant used car store.”

Loewen has seen a shift in the automobile industry and feels his dealership is in a good position to move forward with continued success.

“Steinbach used to bring in a lot of business from Winnipeg and northern Ontario, and all over the place. I think Steinbach has become more of a Southeast capital, where we’re serving our local city and the outlying areas.”

As more “dealership communities” have opened up in Winnipeg, that city has been able to reduce the number of shoppers who would otherwise turn to Steinbach for their next vehicle purchase, Loewen said.

He does not feel a big impact in the shift as his business has always focused more on serving the local customers, providing them with a good experience to bring them back.

“I’ve made a living by selling lots of cars. Not by selling a few cars and making a lot of money. What you see here didn’t happen by itself. It started with nothing and now became a big dealership. We’ve done that by being people of integrity.”

Loewen said his business partners and employees make all this significant growth possible.