Monaco Ford

6 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 4 the meantime, and focus on some of the other departments in the store. They use ACV auction, people coming in off the street to buy vehicles, any source that’s out there for used vehicles. Chrissy emphasizes, “We’re definitely trying to make the deals happen that come into the store. Obviously the trade-in is going to be the best thing.” After a century in the business, Monaco Ford has developed a real trust factor and are very well branded locally. Being a standalone Ford store, people realize how invested they are in the brand, and know that the company stands by the work they do. Mike says, “It’s getting more rare now, but occasionally somebody will come in and talk about how they used to work for our Great Grandfather. And we have four generations of families coming in here and buying vehicles. If someone does have an issue, they can talk to Chrissy or me, and I think that means a lot to our customer base. As opposed to a lot of stores that have branched out and gotten quite a bit bigger MONACO FORD into the dealer groups.” The original building at the Glastonbury location of Monaco Ford, known affectionately by staff as ‘the big store’, dates back to the early 1900s. An unorthodox piece of land for a dealership to be on, it is built into a hill and started with numerous homes on the property, which have been removed over the years. Mike admits, “We’re built into a hill which makes it really challenging. We’re unable to have a service drive; snow removal is a complete nightmare. On the plus side, it’s a big parcel with two flat pieces of land in a really great, busy area.” A second Monaco Ford store was opened in Oct. 2021 in Niantic, about 40 miles from Glastonbury. The property and building are significantly smaller but it is a flat piece of land of about three acres. “We’re really enjoying the size of that store,” Mike says, “being able to control your overhead and trying to figure out what the market is. The fact that we have a challenging time getting