Jeff Sikes Mazda breaks ground on new facility
CEO says Retail Revolution about 'full disclosure'

Thursday, April 27, 2006

By MARIAN ACCARDI
Times Business Writer accardi@htimes.com

Ground was broken Wednesday at Jeff Sikes Mazda in Huntsville for one of about 100 Mazda Retail Revolution facilities completed or being built or planned.

The concept is "not just about bricks and mortar," said Jim O'Sullivan, president and chief executive officer of Mazda North American Operations. "We're into open access to information for the customer." On-site Internet access will be available to customers for comparison car shopping. "We call it full disclosure," said O'Sullivan, who was in Huntsville for the ground-breaking ceremony.

The $2 million, 15,000-square-foot facility - at 6555 University Drive - will provide a "total customer-friendly atmosphere to shop for a car," owner Jeff Sikes said.

The new building will feature a salesperson-free cafe and lots of technological gadgets like plasma screens, interactive displays and Sony PlayStation 2 consoles with steering wheel and pedals for racing the new RX-8. The facility is expected to be completed in September.

The first of the 43 current Mazda Retail Revolution facilities in the United States opened in Bountiful, Utah, in January 2003. Mazda projects 200 Retail Revolution stores within the next five years.

In the next 12 months, Mazda will also launch six new or "refreshed" products, O'Sullivan said. The five-passenger crossover sport-utility vehicle, Mazda CX-7, will arrive in May and the seven-passenger Mazda CX-9 will be launched in November.

Mazda has 700 dealers in the United States, 125 in Canada and 10 in Mexico.

O'Sullivan believes there is "a lot of emotion" tied to the Mazda brand these days. "We've differentiated ourselves." In the early 1990s, the automaker "tried to be all to all people," he said. "The brand really didn't resonate with the customer."

Sikes opened his own Mazda dealership in Huntsville in 1984 at the age of 26. In 22 years in business here, the Sikes organization has sold more than 25,000 vehicles and serviced more than 250,000.

The new Mazda building is being built by McWhorter & Co. Construction. The architect is Hay Buchanan Architects of Huntsville, and the project advisor is Joe Still.