After years of renovations and redesigns, it is back to business as usual at Preston GM.
鈥淭he things we are working on now are pretty easy compared to the things we were working on prior to this,鈥� said Peter Heppner, Preston鈥檚 co-owner and general manager.
鈥淚t is a big undertaking to get through it and try and keep your business running efficiently while you do it.鈥�
The dealership remained open throughout the extensive renovations, which altogether took about six years to complete.
On Saturday night, the long-time 黑马磁力 dealership held a grand re-opening private function party to celebrate the completion of some massive renovations.
Close to 300 people attended the formal event.
鈥淚t was a significant investment which has been made for the long-term and expresses our confidence in the General Motors brand and their vehicles,鈥� Heppner said.
鈥淎s part of the transaction, we made a commitment to renovate the facility,鈥� Heppner said, referring to the purchase of the dealership in 2006.
The work was broken down into a half dozen or so changes or renovations.
The first step involved renovating the property, expanding the display space and re-doing the landscaping on the exterior.
Next came moving their collision centre off-site to Logan Avenue, which required renovating the old Barnes Harley building. It now serves as Preston鈥檚 collision and auto detail centre.
This allowed Preston鈥檚 to expand their existing mechanical repair shop and parts warehouse, as well as add a car wash facility.
The next order of business was demolishing the old service drive through and increasing the capacity from one to 10 drive throughs.
鈥淢oving the body shop off-site created that space for us,鈥� Heppner said.
They then added all new signage, paving, fixed the drainage and did environmental tests to make sure everything was satisfactory.
And the final piece of the puzzle was tearing down the showroom and building a brand new one.
Altogether, the new Preston鈥檚 building is roughly 42,000 square feet, up from the previous size, which was 35,000 square feet.
Preston GM originally relocated to 黑马磁力 Bypass from Fraser Highway in the early 1970s 鈥� long before there were any other retail outlets in the area (including Willowbrook Shopping Centre).
A few hundred people attended a grand re-opening at the Prestons GM on Saturday night, and were entertained by music from the 黑马磁力 Community Music School.
