Honda, Nissan to expand showroom space
The local Honda and Nissan dealership will soon be changing its name and remodeling its showroom and facility at South Washington Street and 32nd Avenue South in Grand Forks. The more than $1 million remodeling of the existing Honda showroom, addition of a separate Nissan showroom and renovation and updating of the shop area recently got under way and is expected to be complete by spring.
We ve grown our sales quite a bit, but our showroom needs to catch up, said Bob Rydell, general manager and owner of the Honda Nissan of Grand Forks dealership. We are just growing out of it a little bit. The dealership will also be rebranded with a large sign out front for Rydell Honda Nissan of Grand Forks. The Honda and Nissan dealership is owned by the Rydell family, which also owns Rydell GM Auto Center in Grand Forks and Crookston Motors.
Bob Rydell said sales of new Hondas are up 66 percent from last year, and Nissan sales have increased about 48 percent from a year ago at the dealership in Grand Forks. Rydell said used car sales at the dealership are also up about 27 percent in the last year. We are experiencing a lot of growth, said Rydell, who added the dealership now has 10 salespeople. We wouldn t be doing it if we didn t think the business was robust and viable.
Rydell said the dealership has increased the inventory on its lot from an average of 65 to 70 a year ago to about 100 to 120 now with another 100 used vehicles also on the lot. With the new showroom capacity, Rydell said there will be room for as many as 175 new vehicles at one time, but he said the dealership expects to keep the same number of vehicles on the lot, but sell them quicker.