Grab some lunch, buy a car
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When Fiesta Linton brought her car in for an oil change at the Price LeBlanc Toyota dealership earlier this month, she had more than a dog-eared magazine to help her pass the time.
Linton was able to sip on a kiwi-strawberry smoothie and snack on a chicken-wrap sandwich at a Tropical Smoothie Café inside the dealership, while she watched a big-screen TV.
"It’s cool," Linton said of the café setting.
"Plus, I hadn’t eaten today and this was great," she said of the snack.
The huge new, approximately 127,000-square-foot Price LeBlanc dealership at 13200 Airline Highway opened in May, and the Tropical Smoothie Cafe,’ built into a front corner of the dealership, opened this month.
There are other amenities at the dealership, as well.
In addition to the café, customers can choose from three waiting areas — a TV room; a room where children can play; and a "quiet" room with outlets for laptops.
There’s also an expanded gift shop.
The dealership had one in its previous location next door on Airline, a building that’s currently being renovated to be a Price LeBlanc Lexus dealership.
Dealership owner Brent LeBlanc said that even customers who aren’t doing any car business come to shop at the gift center in the new Toyota dealership. The gift shop shows up on the Internet as a retail location for a certain type of gel floor mat, for instance, and shoppers come in for that item alone, he said.
"We weren’t prepared for that," LeBlanc said.
"The customers are excited that they can do a little bit more here" when they run car errands, LeBlanc said.
"We were trying to think of things that take time, to save (customers) time. The number one luxury you can give people is more disposable time," LeBlanc said.
The dealership took a little baby step years ago to assist multi-taskers, by offering greeting cards, he said.
"The first thing we ever did, seems odd enough, (but) we started with greeting cards. It’s something that takes so long to pick out," LeBlanc said.
The customer conveniences at the Price LeBlanc dealership reflect a trend among large dealerships across the country to attract consumers.
A report in the "AutoExec" magazine, published by the National Auto Dealers Association, says that "dealerships face increasing competition from independent service stations and quick-lube centers, but continue to attract customers with competitive pricing and upgraded facilities."
A September article by The Detroit News points out that NADA has also found that "one-third of a percent of U.S. dealers have made significant improvements to showrooms, service and waiting areas in the past two years, with a major emphasis on play stations for kids, business centers for customers and showroom upgrades.”
LeBlanc said the dealership built its new location, specifically with the Tropical Smoothie Café in mind.
He said the café, which serves smoothies, wraps, sandwiches and salads, has a menu that can serve the dealership’s employees and its customers from morning hours to evening to coincide with dealership hours.
It was also a plus for customers in an area of Airline that doesn’t currently have many other eating places, LeBlanc said.
Over the years, LeBlanc said the dealership staff had noticed that customers coming in for work on their cars would bring their breakfasts and lunches with them.
“It was amazing how many of them multi-task,” LeBlanc said.
The dealership, which draws more than 600 customers daily for car purchase, service or repair, has the consumer traffic to offer such amenities, he said.
“You have to reach an obviously large volume in order to justify it. It works here; the numbers work,” LeBlanc said.
The café is the first Tropical Smoothie Café in the country to open inside an existing business, said Cathy Carraway, who owns the franchise along with her husband, Roger.
The chance to open in the dealership was “one of those good opportunities that don’t come very often,” Carraway said.
It’s a feather in the cap for the franchise, which isn’t as well known in this part of the country as other franchises, such as Subway and McDonald’s, which have been increasingly paired with convenience and big-box stores for locations.
The Carraways opened Louisiana’s first Tropical Smoothie Café three years ago on Coursey Boulevard and are also area developers for the eight-parish franchise..
There are currently two other locations of the franchise that are owned by two franchisees in Lafayette and Slidell, Cathy said.
Jim Valentino, president of Tropical Smoothie Café, based in Destin, Fla., said the company decided the franchise location in the dealership would be a good idea.
“When you go into something that’s nontraditional, (you ask) ‘Do I have enough consumers coming through the door to make the business profitable for the corporation and the franchise?’” Valentino said.
The numbers worked in Baton Rouge.
“Price LeBlanc is one of the largest dealers in the region,” he said.
Tropical Smoothie Café, with a little more than 275 franchises, has been approached in recent months about possibly opening a location in hospitals and in a high school, Valentino said.
The café can also be an effective sales tool for the dealership.
Tommy Adams, a salesman at the dealership, said that one day a couple came in around lunchtime, thinking about buying a car.
When the wife mentioned she was getting hungry, Adams invited them to sit down in the café.
“We’re eating lunch, everybody’s eating lunch. They ended up buying the car,” Adams said.
“Who doesn’t like discussing business over lunch?” he asked.
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