As published in Development News - October 1, 2019
Rendering of the new Yark Chevrolet in Perrysburg
Yark Automotive Group, a family-owned used and new car dealership group, is constructing a new Chevrolet store in Perrysburg located at 26997 North Dixie Highway, a mile and a half to the north of the I-475 and Route 25 interchange. The dealership group is relocating from its current Chevrolet store location in Whitehouse.
Yark has partnered with Coger/Shambarger Architects to design the dealership and Rudolph Libbe Group to construct the approximately 57,000 square foot facility. The new state-of-the-art store is expected to open next summer.
“We’re so thrilled to share this new facility with our customers,” said John Yark, president of Yark Automotive Group. “The new Chevrolet facility will enable us to serve more customers, and give all of our customers a truly premium experience. Yark Chevrolet in Perrysburg will be a simply astounding new dealership that we’re extremely excited to open for the community as well as to begin serving all of our loyal customers.”
According to DJ Yark, general manager for Yark Automotive Group, the company has been the largest volume dealership group in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan for the past 24 years running.
“Our Chevy business has played a large part in our growth as it’s a great brand with a fabulous product. Perrysburg is a rapidly expanding area, and having a new dealership in Perrysburg allows us to better represent that market and take care of our existing customers who live there,” said DJ. “We’ll continue to serve the Whitehouse and Waterville areas, which have been so good to us since we purchased the Chevy store back in 2004.”
The new Yark Chevrolet store will have an expanded showroom, allowing more vehicles to be viewed inside by customers along with a much larger service area which will also serve more customers.
“This is going to be a massive dealership that’s over 57,000 square feet. Everything in it will be brand new, including state-of-the-art equipment. We’ll have a first-class service department with 25 service bays, which will also accommodate SUVs and heavy-duty trucks. There’s going to be three large service ride-up lanes, including a quick service lane that has an oil change pit, so we can take care of our customer’s maintenance needs while getting them in and out of the store quickly,” said DJ.
Construction underway at the site of Yark Chevrolet’s new Perrysburg dealership
DJ also noted that the facility will feature a large customer lounge that will have an internet café, coffee bar, and a children’s play area, as well as a new indoor vehicle delivery bay to show customers the vehicles while keeping them out of the elements.
“There’s also going to be a 5,000 square foot detail building that will include an automated car wash system which our customers will be able to use anytime,” added DJ.
“The location at 26997 North Dixie Highway is going to be located on approximately 7.4 acres of 20 total acres that we own, which will allow for future expansions. Perrysburg – being a rapidly growing area and being the number one zip code for vehicle registration for northwest Ohio for so many years – will create high traffic counts going past the site, making it an ideal location for the store and future growth,” said DJ.
All of the current team members from the current Whitehouse location will relocate to the new dealership. According to DJ, Yark Automotive also plans to hire another 25 employees prior to the opening of the store next summer, which would bring the dealership up to 50 employees. He also noted that there are plans for an additional 25 to 50 people over the next two years.
DJ explained that the Yark Automotive’s growth is due to its employees and the Chevy brand.
“We believe we have the best people on our team and every one of them is committed to meeting our customer’s expectations every day. We’ve always believed that anybody can sell you a car, but when you have the best people who consistently go above and beyond for a customer, we develop relationships that keep customers coming back for life. Yark’s been in business since 1981, and we’ve grown from one dealership and 50 employees to 7 dealerships with over 470 employees. We represent 11 new vehicle franchises and sell more than 13,000 vehicles annually,” concluded DJ.