Mercedes Dealership Could Open by End of Year

Mercedes Benz of Smithtown is looking to give locals a visual display from both inside and outside the dealership with its new facility, a building that could be open by years end or the beginning of 2013. 

“The openness of it will be very inviting. There will be no barriers visually from the street and inside of the showroom, so I feel like people will be drawn in a little more than they were,” said Nancy Buzzetta, vice president of Mercedes Benz of Smithtown. 

Buzzetta, who is also one of the owners of the Competition Auto Group, said the 9,500 square foot showroom with 22-feet between floor and ceiling would have the appearance of a light box or a display case, providing a look at all the cars in the showroom during the day and at night to better promote them.

In addition to the visual appeal the new location on Middle Country Road in St. James will be able to adequately hold all of its other operations, from service to its wholesale parts operation, delivery, business development, accounting and more.

Once the construction is complete, which began in April, the dealership will have a similar look as other updated Mercedes dealerships.

“We’ll all have a common theme throughout the country. From an architectural standpoint they’ll all look pretty similar – glass and steel, pretty modern looking,” said Bill Riedel, general manager of Mercedes Benz of Smithtown.

The initial hopes were for the construction to take six months to complete, but during construction the dealership saw it fit to plan for more space if needed in the future by adding a 5,000 square foot basement with a car elevator designed for storage. 

While construction has been going on the dealership has occupied the former home to Hummer. Riedel said since temporarily moving to another location business “hasn’t skipped a beat.” 

The dealership hopes the construction would be finished before the new line of vehicles is released.