“Family Undertakes challenge of full-service dealership”                               

By Tristan Crowe

This week Staff writer

January 22, 2006

 

 

    A family with Pataskala roots is looking to make a go of another business venture that could drive car sales to higher levels.

 

    At least, that is the plan of Don Stewart Sr. and his sons, Robert Stewart and Don Stewart II, as they embark on a full service auto dealership of pre-owned cars at 361 W. Broad St. SW in Pataskala.

 

   The new dealership is a first for a family working in partnership.

 

   Now open for business, the dealership is expected to add vehicle service and parts to its line of services.

 

   The senior Stewart expects to invest approximately $250,000 in the property, adding several new lifts in the service bays of the building along with new blacktop and other cosmetic features.

 

     “The building was in decent shape when we bought it,” he said, adding that the building once housed Dave Smith Ford.

 

     “It is a work in progress,” he said. “We hope to be at full capacity soon.”

 

      His son, company president Robert Stewart, said the dealership is moving forward in locating vehicles to add to the current inventory.

 

     “Our detail operations ore ready now,” Stewart said. “We expect to add more equipment to our service operations and a parts department around March or April of next year.

 

      The dealership expects to stock about 150-200 late model, low mile vehicles, including additional higher-end specialty cars that range from $34,000 and under.

 

      “To tailor what we offer for the market, we expect to have cars that range in price, from $8,000 to $15,000 and lower-end vehicles that will be priced under $4,000,” he said. “The vehicles that are priced under the $4,000 range are to target those families that have children and are looking for a good first car.

 

      “So our plans are to make this a one-stop shop for people who are looking for something high end, and possibly for someone in the family who needs something to get them to school or around.”

 

      Nine employees are currently at the new dealership, with the possibility of another 16 to be added in this year.

 

      Developing a new pre-owned dealership is not foreign territory for the Stewarts; they have several years combined in the field.

 

     It all began about 40 years ago, when Don Stewart Sr. became the youngest salesman at Bill Swad's Columbus dealership in 1964.

 

     “I got into sales when I was 19, and became the used-car manager there at 20.” he said. “I pretty much stayed in the business ever since.”

 

      He eventually branched into other business capacities, opening Suburban Car Company in Pataskala, and Autoland U.S.A. in Reynoldsburg.

 

      Stewart decided to consolidate the operations and asked on of his sons if they were interested in a larger-scale family venture.

 

      “I've sold a lot of cars over the years, and it's all what you make of it.” he said. “The time was just right do it.”

 

     Elder son, and other company president Don Stewart II, was a sales manager for Gates Chevrolet World in South Bend, IN., before relocating to Pataskala to help with the business.

 

    A somewhat stagnant economy has not dampened the spirits of either of the Stewarts, who expect to expand into the other territories in the future.

 

    “Right now, we're focusing on our main location here,” Stewart II said. “But we would consider other stores in the future, maybe locating one in the Columbus market. It would depend on the location, and how things are operating here.”

 

     Stewart Auto Group of Pataskala is open from Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.

 

      For more information, call (740) 927-8299.