Car dealer relocates
The vacant Mount Kisco Chevrolet and Cadillac dealership along the busy commercial strip that is Route-117 has been filled by the owner of Arroway Chevrolet Cadillac of Katonah.
Lou Roberti of Somers just reopened the more than 30,000-square-foot space as Arroway Chevrolet Cadillac of Mount Kisco and will relocate there part of his operations in Katonah.
“Currently, we”™ve kept the showroom (in Katonah) open for Saab sales, but we”™re looking to do something with that real estate,” Roberti said.
Hummers are also still sold at Katonah, he said.
The Katonah dealership sits at 18,000 square feet on two acres.
The new dealership has some three-and-a-half acres.
Business had been rough for Roberti, who has operated the Katonah dealership for 25 years.
“Last year, I would say through June, my sales were probably down 70 percent,” he said. “What happened in June last year when General Motors shut down a number of dealerships, sales started to increase. This year, my sales were up 50 percent in March over March of last year and probably the same for February.”
The Mount Kisco could prove to be a moneymaker for Roberti.
“First of all, the location is fantastic,” he said. “It”™s right on the main road and you have a Target across the street and the A&P and of course, the size of the building.”
A healthy assortment of other automobile dealerships along the way does not worry Roberti.
“The competition is always good,” he said. “We have BMW close by and we have Lexus close by. If people are out looking at, for example, Toyota, if they come in here and look at a Chevrolet or a Cadillac, maybe they”™re going to want to buy it. Maybe they want to road test it.”
Roberti is now working to modernize the dealership.
“I really want to improve the look of it,” Roberti said, of renovations. “Nothing has really been done on the building for many years, so I did a facelift on the interior of the building and I”™m planning to begin a facelift on the exterior of the building. I want to make it like a model for GM dealerships. We have a beautiful BMW and Lexus dealership locally, and I want it to look as good as those. That”™s my benchmark.”
The estimated total cost of renovation including moving expenses is around a “couple million dollars,” Roberti said.