Sill-TerHar test drives market concept

BROOMFIELD — Premier Automotive Group is testing a posh new marketing concept in Broomfield, making family owned Sill-TerHar Motors’ new showrooms as swank as the brands displayed there.

Sill-TerHar Motors opened its new Premier Automotive Group building in November to sell Aston Martin, Jaguar, Volvo and Lincoln vehicles. The new showrooms are decorated with marble flooring, sleek leather furniture, art glass and lighting worthy of the most luxurious hotel lobby.

?It’s a new concept that they’re trying to implement across the U.S.,? said John ?Jack? TerHar Jr., the dealership’s owner. ?We want to take people into an environment that is comfortable.?

The upscale showroom is the first of 30 that Ford hopes to build nationwide within the next five years. Premier Automotive is Ford’s top-of-the-line division.

The idea behind the luxurious setting, complete with espresso bars, is that each high-end brand will be sold from a showroom that reflects its heritage.

The Aston Martin room, for example, includes a vault door entrance that TerHar described as ?James Bondlike? to reflect the automaker’s British history.

The room also includes a waterfall, custom lighting to create starburst patterns on the paintjobs, and a small, glass door cooler stocked with champagne to toast new sales. (Sorry, no shaken vodka martinis, James.) Sleek ultra-modern black leather and chrome furniture in the seating area and frosted glass doors complete the chic, edgy feel.

?The environment does fit with these cars,? said Peter Stainton, an Aston Martin browser who lives in Boulder.

Another example, the Lincoln area, reflects Ford’s ?American Luxury? tagline. Dark cherry wood, frosted glass, and impressive offices give the impression of Old Corporate America’s law offices.

The light, spare Volvo area hearkens back to the company’s Swedish roots, as does Jaguar’s exotic nod to its high-speed history.

?We are the cream filling between two very elaborate cookies,? said Andrew Chase, Volvo sales representative, about his brand’s location between Jaguar and Lincoln.

A drive-through bay separates each brand area. Customers may leave their cars for service without exposure to the elements and without even seeing the service area, which is concealed behind the showrooms.

The waiting areas, complete with large-screen and flat-screen TVs and digital video recorders, hide behind screens or are strategically placed off to the side of the showroom, as if to indicate waiting around isn’t a large part of the Sill-TerHar shopping or service experience.

The staff offices are also out of the way of the showroom to make shopping more relaxed.

?In Europe, design and imagery is how they get you to shop at leisure,? said Hugo Matheson, a Sill-TerHar browser originally from London but now living in Boulder. ?The environment does influence you.?

TerHar had to work with representatives from each brand so they ?would be happy with the way it flowed,? he said.

The entire renovation cost nearly $20 million, but TerHar isn’t worried about the state of the economy.

?The plans (for the building) were in place before the economy slowed down,? he said, ?but we’re ahead of our initial goals of three years ago.?

Few of the sales staff that TerHar hired for the expansion has automotive sales in their background.

?We have hired for the luxury market,? he said. ?We want people to focus more on how people are treated than on wheeling and dealing like in the car business.?

In fact, it’s almost hard to spot a member of the sales staff among the browsers.

Over the three years of planning and building, the staff increased from 85 to 153.

?We anticipated growing more than that, but Interlocken is softer than we anticipated,? TerHar said.

Ironically, Interlocken was one of the reasons that Sill-TerHar was selected for the Premier Group in the first place, said Lincoln Regional Manager Zafar Brooks.

?Broomfield is home to a number of key employers in the market, including Interlocken and FlatIron Crossing,? he said. ?We saw what those developers saw, a growing, thriving community that can support the luxury brands.?

Brooks is not daunted by Interlocken’s vacancies.

?As with everything, change is inevitable,? he said. ?When you have great brands with great value and the service the market is asking for, they will support you. The Boulder/Broomfield corridor is economically sound.?

The dearth of luxury dealerships in the area was also a factor. The closest high-end dealership to Broomfield is Land Rover Boulder in Superior.

?If you exclude Boulder,? TerHar said, ?there are no luxury car dealerships north of Colfax. The average consumer (will not) drive more than 10 or 15 miles for service.?

TerHar said that he draws customers from Lafayette, Louisville, Boulder, Arvada, Thornton and Northglenn.

Ann Anderson drove in from Brighton to look at Jaguars.

?We’re looking at different cars because my lease is coming due,? she said. ?We don’t have Jaguar or Volvo (in Brighton).?

Sill-TerHar’s track record also helped bring the luxury brands to Broomfield.

?They were chosen because (Sill-TerHar) has been an outstanding dealership for a number of years,? Brooks said.

The 42-year-old dealership is a Blue Oval Certified Ford dealership, a distinction that dealers earn based upon sales performance and customer service, traits instilled by the companies founders, John TerHar Sr. and Hugo Sill.

In 1960 TerHar Sr., 25, at the time, and his partner, Sill, opened the dealership and sold only Fords. Sill died two years later, but TerHar Sr. married Sill’s stepdaughter Joyce. Their son John TerHar Jr. began working at the dealership in 1978. He became sole owner in 1989 when his father retired, but the business has turned into a family affair.

Sill-TerHar Motors ranks No. 1 on The Boulder County Business Report’s list of Family Owned Businesses ranked by 2001 revenues. Sill-TerHar recorded $114 million last year, up from $92 million in 2000.

In addition to ?taking care of our customers,? being a family owned, family run business has helped promote sales, according to TerHar Jr.

Six family members work at the dealership that employs 154 full-time workers.

Penny Ter-Har, John Ter-Har Jr.’s wife, manages the Jaguar department. The couple’s two daughters also work at the dealership. Jannelle Ertl is a sales manager, and Jacquelyn Ter-Har sells Fords. Ter-Har Jr.’s nephew Obeau Smith is in new car sales in the Ford division, and Obeau’s wife, Amanda, works in accounting.

?With all the consolidation of public companies, we don’t come off like cold and unfriendly corporate America,? he said. ?Many of our customers are aware of that. We hear it constantly that we shouldn’t sell out to John Elway AutoNation.?

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