CarMax to open Savannah store in spring 2013

I've gotten two phone calls about this in the last few days, so I'm posting the article that appeared on SavannahNow.com

The article is short and here in its entirety.

Posted: June 22, 2012 - 12:19am

By Adam Van Brimmer

Used car retailer CarMax announced plans Thursday to open its first Savannah location next spring on Abercorn Street.

The Richmond, Va.-based company will build its store on the 8.2-acre vacant lot owned by the Backus family located just south of Montgomery Cross Road. The CarMax location will share that stretch of Abercorn with several other car dealers, including Hoover Chrysler, Savannah Mitsubishi, J.C. Lewis Ford, Vaden Chevrolet, Fairway Lincoln and Southern Motors Honda.

The CarMax site was listed for $3.8 million by Rhett Mouchet and Michael Bone of local commercial real estate firm Kulp Mouchet. Mouchet declined comment for this story, citing a confidentiality agreement.

The Backus family has owned the property since the 1960s, when they bought it as a future home for their Cadillac dealership. The Backuses never built on the site, keeping the Cadillac dealership at their East Victory Drive location instead.

CarMax’s planned Savannah store is one of 10 the company will open in the next 12 months. CarMax announced a Columbus store as well.

CarMax is the nation’s largest used-car retailer with 112 stores in 27 states with approximately 30,000 vehicles in its inventory. The company was developed by executives of defunct electronics retailer Circuit City and opened its first store in Richmond in 1993.

CarMax did $10 billion in sales in 2012, with net earnings of more than $413 million.

CarMax is unique among auto dealerships in that its sticker prices are non-negotiable and sales associates work on flat commissions. Additionally, any vehicle on any of CarMax’s lots nationwide can be purchased from any store location.

Or you could read the full article CarMax to open Savannah store in spring 2013

A. Joseph Marshall
Coldwell Banker Commercial
Commercial Real Estate Advisor
Savannah, Ga