Mercedes on the move in St. Charles
The move seemed to take forever because of construction on Randall Road, but Mercedes-Benz of St. Charles is finally in its new home.
After spending five years in a former Edward Hines Lumber yard directly across the street from its new 8-acre site, the Resnick Auto Group dealership moved into its new location at the end of March. The new site houses a 34,400-square-foot building with an 8,600-square-foot showroom, an 18,200-square-foot service center and 3,700 square feet of office space. General Manager Craig Falkenthal, who has worked at Resnick Auto Group since 1990, has overseen the construction and relocation process, including the dealership’s initial move from Arlington Heights in 2006.
What does this new facility give Mercedes-Benz customers?#147;This is a new chapter in our business life in this community. We#146;re helping the community of St. Charles move west and we#146;re growing the Fox Valley. The old building wasn#146;t so eye appealing. Now our customers can come to a facility to purchase and service their cars that#146;s just as impressive as the cars they buy. #147;We have probably quadrupled the amount of space we have outside to display our inventory. Inside, we#146;ve doubled the number of lifts in our service area from six to 12 and we have the latest in diagnostic tools, as well as laser alignment racks, for our technicians to services cars more efficiently. There is a large service drive with three lanes.#148;What are the outstanding design elements of the building?#147;This facility shines like a beacon at night. It#146;s easy to see the building and it#146;s easy for our customers to enter and leave the property, unlike at our old facility where we had to share driveways with surrounding businesses. There are 22-foot, 10-inch pre-cast cement walls throughout the building. We have a floor-to-ceiling glass storefront in the showroom to showcase our automobiles and a spacious customer lounge with a fireplace, refreshments and a comfortable seating area.#147;We have incorporated a number of green elements into the building. All of our offices and restrooms have light sensors that turn on when someone walks in and turn off after they leave. In the service area we have Rytec doors that go up quickly when a car approaches, and go down after 10 seconds to minimize changes in air temperature. All of the conservation elements that you need to do in today#146;s construction, we#146;ve utilized them.#148;Have you added staff since moving to this new facility?#147;We have been able to hire about 12 new people, including a new service adviser and two service technicians. Our showroom has a concierge now, which we never had at the other facility, and we now have a nighttime receptionist. We#146;ve hired three more porters and two additional sales associates.#148;What did Mercedes-Benz of St. Charles do to celebrate the opening of the new facility?#147;We had a soft opening when we opened our doors on March 26 but we wanted to wait to have our grand opening festivities to make sure our snowbird customers were back in the area. We invited everyone who ever purchased a vehicle from this dealership. St. Charles Mayor Don Dewitt attended and said a few words. We had catered food from Moveable Feast in Geneva and entertainment from Third Street, a jazz band from Geneva High School. The Resnick Group owners, Phillip and Nancy Resnick, wanted to use all local businesses for this opening.#148;What is new at Mercedes-Benz of St. Charles?#147;We were just awarded the Sprinter commercial van business on April 1.#148;How do you expect this dealership to fare in such a shaky economy?#147;It#146;s a challenge, to be sure, but we are very fortunate. We had five years to build the foundation for our customers while we were in the temporary facility. We feel that the timing is fortunate for us because we feel we are pulling out of a trough just as the country is doing so.#148;What is unique about your dealership?#147;We#146;re a dog-friendly dealership. People are welcome to bring in their dogs when they shop. The Resnicks are dog-lovers #8212; they have Labradoodles. I have two Havanese. I sometimes bring my dogs with me to work; they#146;re here all day.#148;What is your background with Resnick Auto Group?#147;I began my career with Resnick as finance and lease manager at Woodfield Lexus in 1990. I worked there until 2006, when I became general manager of Mercedes-Benz of St. Charles, which had originally been Mark Motors in Arlington Heights.#148; 38002599Craig Falkenthal, general manager of Mercedes-Benz of St. Charles, coordinated the construction and move to a new facility on Randall Road.Photos by Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com 39782593The new service bay area at the dealership is more than twice the size of its temporary location. 40002657Mercedes-Benz of St. Charles is part of the Resnick Auto Group. 40002634Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.comMercedes-Benz of St. Charles prodly displays its motto on license plates. 40002743A floor-to-ceiling glass wall showcases autos in the new showroom at Mercedes-Benz of St. Charles.