Family-owned
Mercedes-Benz of Collierville, which opened near Carriage Crossing on March 31, plans to bump its initial 40-person opening day staff to more than 50 by the end of this year.
"We're growing very quickly, so we are adding to our team of repair technicians and our sales staff," says co-owner Trudy Higginbotham-Moody, who owns the dealership along with her father, Dennis Higginbotham; and her brother, Wallace Higginbotham. "We are definitely looking forward to growing the brand in the Memphis metro area."
The new Collierville location features a state-of-the-art Autohaus-style facility with a 16,000-square-foot showroom and a 27-bay service and parts department, as well as a comfortable client lounge area, gift shop, children’s playroom, finance center with leasing department, accounting office, fitness center and full-service automated carwash.
Construction of the 41,000-square-foot facility began on the 8.8-acre parcel last July and was completed by
Montgomery Martin Contractors LLC and Kevin Vaughan of
Township Development Services.
Higginbotham-Moody sees job opportunities for young people coming out of school in the specialized automotive tech field.
"We are finding it is a bit of a struggle to find skilled repair technicians," she says. "The jobs pay extremely well, and I know dealers are always looking. It's a great opportunity. It’s not like it was 20 or 30 years ago--hard sweaty work in a hot shop. Cars are so computerized now; it's very technical work."
Higginbotham-Moody grew up in the car business, as her father worked for GM right out of college and then opened his own Chevrolet dealership in the 1970s in Daytona Beach, Fla. He operated Chevy, Ford and Toyota dealerships before buying the Daytona Mercedes-Benz dealership in 1994. Higginbotham-Moody began running that dealership, which was subsequently sold in 1998 to Sonic Automotive.
The Higginbothams now also own a Mercedes-Benz and Porsche dealership in Jackson, Miss. (bought in 2001) and a BMW and Mercedes-Benz dealership in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (acquired in 2008).
The new Collierville dealership, which is the second Mercedes-Benz location in the Memphis area, will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony and public grand opening celebration on June 14.
By Michael Waddell
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