By Lawrence Emerson
FauquierNow.com Editor

The demolition and construction will require complex choreography among cars, cranes and customers at Country Chevrolet in Warrenton.

A five-month, $1.2-million project, starting Monday, will give the busy dealership a new look by late spring.

Miller Brothers Inc. of Marshall will replace or remodel almost half of the 16,000-square-foot building at Blackwell Road and Lee Highway.

Country Chevrolet owner Andy Budd plans to conduct business as usual — well, almost — throughout construction.

“It’s gonna be a little chaotic,” Mr. Budd said. “But, we need to make it as easy as possible.”

The contractor will demolish and rebuild the showroom at the front of the building. The service area also will get a major facelift, with a new, 1,000-square-foot, enclosed drive-in lane.

“All of the ‘customer touch’ areas are gonna be redone. We’ll have a newer, nicer customer lounge and a kids’ play area,” Mr. Budd explained. “It will be a more appealing, modern, sophisticated look.”

General Motors last year launched “Essential Brand Elements,” a program to dramatically update dealerships across the country.

“We have to step up, above and beyond what’s going on in the automotive space,” GM Chief Marketing Officer Joel Ewanick told financial analysts at a conference in August.

Mr. Ewanick cited Apple Computer’s retail stores as models.

Participating GM dealerships, including Country Chevrolet, must agree to strict design and finish standards. They include “silver, metallic brushed aluminum” exterior panels, specific lighting, signs, furniture and fixtures, developed by Gensler, a global architectural firm with offices in Detroit.

In return, the automaker will pay a significant portion of the project’s cost, according to Mr. Budd.

Dozens of Country Chevrolet’s 70 employees will begin moving to temporary offices and desks next week. Some will move into trailers on the site. Some will move to the back of the building, which will remain intact.

“We’ve really gone through it intensively with Andy, and we’ve got a great game plan,” said Glenn Miller, president of the construction firm. “There are always safety concerns . . . . It’s one of the challenges we take very seriously.”

He has divided the project into three distinct phases, Mr. Miller explained.

Typically, the four-acre dealership displays 300 new and used cars for sale, along with 50 to 70 there for service.

With employee vehicles and deliveries, the lot presents navigational challenges on a routine day.

Heavy equipment and construction trucks — along with the staging of materials — dramatically will complicate things.

Mr. Budd plans to move part of the inventory to his fenced storage lot on Route 29 near New Baltimore and to shuffle vehicles to town when needed.

“Because of the Internet, a lot of people already have looked (online) at the vehicle they’re interested in before they talk to a salesman,” he noted. “Whenever, wherever they’re needed,” sales people will jump in to help lot porters move vehicles.

He also plans to “talk about” the construction and its challenges in the dealership’s advertising.

“It’s actually good for sales,” Mr. Budd suggested. “It’s fun; it’s exciting.”

And, because Country Chevrolet must maintain sales performance to retain its ranking for new inventory, the staff will accept offers, “whenever there’s any daylight in a deal.”

Last year, Country sold 894 new vehicles, 401 more than the average Chevrolet dealership nationwide.

Country Chevrolet and its sister businesses — Dealer’s Trade Outlet, Summit Motors, Warrenton Highline and Warrenton Select — sold 3,206 used vehicles.

Mr. Budd said he considered building a new dealership on his property near New Baltimore. But, the estimated $9 million cost helped convince him to remodel.

He purchased the business from Claude “Buddy” Lawrence in 1997 and the real estate in 2000.

The building dates to the early 1970s and has undergone numerous, smaller remodeling projects. “We’ve redone the showroom three times since I’ve owned it,” Mr. Budd said.

The service bays and parts department will remain unchanged. The entire exterior will get a new façade or — in the rear — new paint to match the aluminum panels over a steel frame.

Mr. Budd began planning the project in December 2010.

“I’ve gotta hand it to the town” of Warrenton, he said. “The people who approved all of this were very understanding of what we needed to do . . . .

“I think the building and the facility will look more inviting, and I think we’ll see an uptick in sales.”

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