Published September 2001

Dwayne Lane’s lays out growth plans

By Kimberly Hilden
Herald Business Journal Assistant Editor

Dwayne Lane’s Family of Automobile Centers plans to expand its inventory space and service capabilities with two upcoming projects.

The first, moving the company’s Arlington Chevrolet dealership from the downtown area to 59th Avenue NE and Highway 530, is in the permit process, with construction expected to begin by late fall, CEO Tom Lane said.

“We’re ... tripling the size of the facility as well as the square footage of the lot,” Lane said about the new dealership, which will sit on a 5.5- to 6-acre lot and include a 6,400-square-foot showroom.

Expected to be completed early next year, the new facility will meet the need for more space, but more importantly, will put the dealership in an ideal “customer traffic pattern,” Lane said.

“We need to go where the customers are,” he said, adding that downtown Arlington lacks the capacity for through traffic that brings potential buyers driving by.

The dealership, which employs about 35, will be adding employees as business builds, Lane said. The facility eventually could employ as many as 60.

Gaffney Construction of Everett will be the general contractor on the project, which is still being budgeted, Lane said.

Once the Chevrolet dealership is built, Lane plans to turn his attention to the company’s Dodge dealership at 7800 Evergreen Way, which is set to undergo expansion and remodeling.

Although the “land locked” site can’t acquire any more square footage, Lane said there is enough on the current lot to accommodate future growth needs.

For the upcoming project, Lane plans to increase space capacity for parts and service as well as expand the showroom. The dealership also will get an overall remodel, which is still being designed.

Gaffney will be working on the Dodge expansion, too, Lane said.

Together, the two projects will cap 15 years of growth for Dwayne Lane’s Family of Auto Centers, which was founded in 1972 by Lane’s father, Dwayne Lane. In 1987, the company built a south Everett location for its Chrysler-Plymouth-Jeep inventory. In 1994, it bought the Arlington Chevrolet dealership, and three years later, the company moved its Dodge dealership from its corner on Rucker Avenue in Everett to its current location.

“It’s been pretty active,” Tom Lane said, adding that business has been “pretty good” of late.

“We can definitely feel that the economy has been squeezed, but people still are driving quite a bit and need vehicles and replacement vehicles,” he said.

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