Automotive News - September 23, 2019 - Best Practices Supplement - A38

38 | SEPTEMBER 23, 2019
J A C K M A X T O N C H E V R O L E T, W O R T H I N G T O N , O H I O

Store's car shows are 'where it's at'
Summer events keep
customers flocking back
to Ohio dealership
Published in Automotive News June 24, 2019

Pete Bigelow

pbigelow@crain.com

he undertaking begins early on a Friday morning.
Jeff Mauk and roughly a dozen employees at Jack Maxton Chevrolet in
suburban Columbus, Ohio, begin clearing
their lot of hundreds of vehicles, moving them
from positions of prime real estate to another
lot behind the dealership.
Sometime after midnight, they will finish moving them all back. In between, the dealership
holds its Friday Night Cruisin' event, a gathering
that Maxton stages multiple times every summer. The meetup of car fans serves as a flagship
in the dealership's ongoing development and retention of its customer base.
Now entering its 28th summer, the event has a
well-established reputation in the region.
"If you go to car shows and you have a Chevy,
you know about the Maxton Cruisin', " said
Mauk, who started working at the dealership
more than 30 years ago and has been its owner
since 2003. "You just know. That's where it's at."
During the event, the property resembles a
street fair more than a car dealership. Bands,
DJs and food trucks greet attendees, in addition to the legions of Corvettes, Camaros and
Corvairs that arrive for the shows. Cars range
from vintage to modern.

Target audience
The event has a local, exclusive flavor. Car
enthusiasts are welcome to bring Chevrolets
but not other brands. And while the event's
reputation may stretch beyond the borders of
the store's Worthington, Ohio, home base, it is
targeted squarely at potential customers from
the area.
"I don't want them to come from too far, because people from out of town won't come here
to buy," Mauk said. "We check. There's a lot of
big shows in Columbus, and we don't want
people from out of town coming and jamming
our lot. They're not potential customers."
Held on the third Friday of June, July, August
and September, the event can attract as many as
400 vehicles. There's no charge for participants,
but there is a registration process that ensures

Maxton's event
attracts hundreds of
vehicles - just
Chevys, please -
and potential
customers.

Jack Maxton Chevrolet in Ohio stages
a Friday night car show four times a
summer that helps the dealership
find new customers and retain
existing ones.

the dealership can collect information from
each attendee.
"We log everybody in and keep a database,"
said Mauk, who estimates 20 percent of attendees for each Cruisin' event are newcomers to the dealership. With four events every
year and nearly three decades of experience,
he's built a formidable foundation.

No pressure
Mauk doesn't track specific financial targets
for the events but said he sees the payoff "in
sales, service and parts, even the body shop, all
year long." Maxton sells an average of 300 new
and used vehicles each month, he said.

But selling stays in the background during
the car shows. They're strictly casual affairs.
And the car enthusiasts accustomed to displaying their vehicles at shows where they
await the scrutiny of discerning judges won't
encounter strict judging criteria at Maxton.
Awards are doled out by staff members
purely on the basis of what strikes their interest. Seventy or more awards can be distributed on any given night. On certain nights,
there's a focus on a particular vehicle, such as
Corvettes. Other nights will feature a smattering of everything. One recent show featured
awards for favorite Chevelle, Nova, Monte
Carlo, Camaro and wagon.
For every classic vehicle on his lot during
the event, Mauk said he believes there's usually a modern-day Chevy in the driveway at
home. It's a good reminder that for all the fun,
the event is focused on his customer base.
"That's what it's all about," Mauk said.
"We're car guys, and we like it. But ultimately,
yeah, we're doing this and spending money
because it attracts customers." a

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