Grand opening nears for Henderson Hyundai Superstore

While finishing touches are completed at the new $8 million Henderson Hyundai Superstore, owner Frank Maione takes great pleasure in the little things finally getting done, like keeping refreshments stocked in the shiny, modern vending machines in the customer lounge.

"This is my baby," said Maione, referring to the new 40,000-square-foot, 25-bay, fully air conditioned and modern state-of-the-art facility recently constructed behind the former Ben Stepman Hyundai building on Boulder Highway. "Everything is going great, but finishing is a killer."

Despite months of construction, the main showroom is now open for business. A grand opening is planned for June 3-4, but Maione hosted a private celebration last week to welcome VIPs from Hyundai Motor America, as well as local civic leaders. Other guests included Billie Stepman, wife of former dealership owner Ben Stepman, and fellow Las Vegas-area auto dealers. In total, Maione said more than 100 people attended.

Anyone familiar with the businesses on Boulder Highway in Henderson will recall the original 4,000-square-foot structure that Maione said was built in 1966. That property hosted a successful Hyundai dealership for 20 years and was the nation's first stand-alone store for the manufacturer. Maione and his partners purchased the franchise 10 years ago.

"Out of that little building we were the third best-performing Hyundai dealership in the country," Maione said. "Now that we finally have a respectably sized showroom and all the other upgraded amenities, we're not going to stop until we're number one."

Besides the mirrorlike floor in the main showroom that showcases Hyundai's 2011 vehicle lineup, including the fast-selling 2011 hybrids, the dealership boasts plenty of open space for customers, employees, sales and service technicians to relax or get their work done. In fact, for the first time Maione even has his own office, complete with a one-of-a-kind Dale Mathis-inspired desk. Mathis is a local artist who combines mechanical gearing into his pieces.

"It's the first and only artwork I've ever purchased, and I had to have it for my new office," Maione said.

In the customer lounge, there's free Wi-Fi connection, a work-out room with selected gym equipment, beverage bar, playroom with arcade games and rest rooms that would make Buckingham Palace jealous.

"There were a couple things I really wanted," Maione said. "I wanted a shiny floor in the showroom with no grout lines, and I got that. Then, I wanted the ladies' rest room to be the nicest room in the building. Trust us -- mission accomplished."

Maione also spearheaded tearing down the skeletal remains of the old building by climbing aboard a backhoe.

"We never even had a conference room or a break room for the employees," said Maione, admitting he fulfilled a childhood dream of destroying something with big machinery. Not only does the new building feature both necessary spaces, it also encompasses many environmental details like a total concrete parking lot, energy-saving climate system, electrical-power management, lighting motion sensors, interior and exterior high-efficiency light bulbs and 12-inch-thick insulated concrete walls.

To put it in perspective, by simply using concrete for the parking lot, it lowers the temperature 30 degrees from using asphalt, which reduces the "heat-island effect," according to data Maione provided. The other benefit, he explained, is concrete's longevity and it doesn't need to be resurfaced or replaced over time.

"This merely means we are responsible business owners, but buildings don't sell cars," Maione said. To that end, there have also been some management changes at Henderson Hyundai and those adjustments are already starting to produce results. The last three months have been the best new- and pre-owned car months in three years, Maione said.

On the service side, Maione is particularly proud of the two-story, floor-to-ceiling parts facility.

"Our parts guy had the worst conditions in the old building," said Maione, whose goal was to simply give his customers and employees what they wanted.

But, some things remain the same at Henderson Hyundai. Take, for example, the Asian gong that sits on the showroom floor and is struck every time there's a sale. And, it must ring often. After tallying figures through the beginning of December 2010, the Hyundai Motor Co. announced it had cracked the 500,000-sales mark in the U.S. for the first time in the South Korean manufacturer's history.

Needless to say, this was also a new annual sales record for the company, according to www.hyundaiinthenews.com.

Henderson Hyundai is located at 460 N. Boulder Highway in Henderson. For more information, call 410-8363 or visit www.hendersonhyundai.com.