Infiniti possibilities

As of midnight Wednesday, the Infiniti dealership on West Sahara Avenue is under new ownership.

The dealership, sold this week to Park Place Dealerships, a consortium of 12 luxury car brands based in Dallas-Fort Worth, is now Park Place Infiniti.

"This is a great opportunity and the timing is good," new General Manager Steve James said. "We believe the future is bright for Las Vegas. And, we see a lot of potential, not only in Las Vegas, but also in Infiniti."

Park Place Dealerships, led by CEO and Chairman Ken Schnitzer, owns 16 dealerships in northern Texas with an emphasis on luxury makes including Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Porsche, Jaguar, Volvo, McLaren, Bentley, Lotus, Roll-Royce and Smart cars.

After 25 years, Park Place's foray into the Las Vegas automotive market is the company's first outside of Texas. What drew the company to Southern Nevada was not only Schnitzer's longtime relationship with the Towbin family, who owned the dealership, but his desire to expand to another strong luxury market, James said.

"This is a great location and we're confident we'll have the merchandise people want to buy," said James, who added that Park Place's commitment to Las Vegas will be backed up the company's tradition of excellence.

To that end, the nearly 6-acre dealership site will undergo some major improvements, with completion scheduled for spring of 2013. In the meantime, James promises more than 200 new and preowned vehicles will be on the property at all times.

"The new dealership will have our Park Place stamp on it," said James, who's been with the company more than 12 years. "It will give us a lot of opportunity to take care of our Infiniti customers."

James foresees some challenges during the transition while the company provides support to install a new computer system and train more than 70 employees on how to deliver excellent Park Place service.

What's important for Las Vegas customers to know about Park Place, James said, is the company's desire to be experts in excellence. To that end, James noted Park Place was a 2005 recipient of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation's highest presidential honor for quality and organizational performance excellence.

Park Place was the first automotive dealership to win the award, named for Baldrige, who served as U.S. secretary of commerce during President Ronald Reagan's administration. Recipients are evaluated by an independent board of examiners in seven areas that include leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and results. The evaluation includes 1,000 hours of review and several on-site visits.

"Excellence is hundreds of small things done right," Schnitzer said on the company's website, wwwparkplacetexas.com.

"The bottom line is we see great potential in Las Vegas' economy and this is where we chose to expand our business," James said.

Park Place Infiniti is at 5650 W. Sahara Ave.

For more information on the dealership, call 252-8800 or visit www.parkplaceinfinity.com.