Tesla Stores

[neroden]

I'd think they'd want the foot traffic in Boston (e.g. Newbury or Boylston) even though city dwellers are less likely to get such a car.

I think a combination of "city dwellers in a city with urban rail are less likely to get a car at all" (period!) and "city rents are really high" points towards future store locations in suburbs, at least in cities with expensive, subway-equipped downtowns like Boston, NY, and Philly. If I were Tesla I'd aim for inner suburbs which can still be reached easily by city dwellers.

Now, in someplace totally car-dominated like Columbus, Ohio, or Syracuse, NY, downtown would be just as good a location as a suburb. But in the cities where "you don't want to drive downtown here, just take the train", downtown isn't the best place to sell cars.

[Charged_Up]

Too bad - I used to live in White Plains about 1 mile from the mall. Now I'm in Miami - and nearest store is about 40 minutes away in Ft Lauderdale area. Oh well!

[NigelM]

Too bad - I used to live in White Plains about 1 mile from the mall. Now I'm in Miami - and nearest store is about 40 minutes away in Ft Lauderdale area. Oh well!

Ahem, you're getting a store in South Beach in June!

[NigelM]

Cross posting from the regional thread:

Saw on the Tesla website a reference to the Tesla Millenia Store listed under job locations....

Referring to the Millenia Mall? Probably....

Attachment 5753

Cool. But I'd still prefer Tampa,..... George!

[NigelM]

Looks like Millenia Mall in Orlando gets the store, but Tampa also gets on the list with a service center.

Lots of happy people in SWFL.

[Iz]

Interesting choice of location. Is this targeted at the Hudson Valley / Connecticut / western Massachusetts / Rhode Island market, because of how obnoxious it is to drive all the way into NYC?

It certainly won't help much with upstate NY (west or north of Albany).

Most likely it is targeted at the lower Hudson Valley and Connecticut. I am about 15 miles north of White Plains. However, I would not have minded the occasional drive into NYC, although there are those in this area who rarely travel there. It will definitely not help those living upstate or in the North Country.

[MarkR]

While owners and rez holders are interested in the placement of stores, what we really need are service centers. My sense is that the location of service centers must be driven by where the cars are, while store location ought to be determined by where the money is - it does appear that somebody at Tesla was looking at Forbes list of wealthiest communities when they planned the new stores.

[favo]

I noticed this map was part of the annual shareholder meeting presentation (24:25), but it wasn't talked about much. I decided to project it onto a more detailed map to see if we can determine the locations of new stores. Clearly the dots on the map are not exactly placed, but since when should that stop us?



Here's my take on the locations:

Existing (green dots)

1. Bellevue Square (Bellevue, WA)
2. Menlo Park (Menlo Park, CA)
3. Santana Row (San Jose, CA)
4. Los Angeles (West Los Angeles, CA)
   Third Street Promenade (Santa Monica, CA)
5. Fashion Island (Newport Beach, CA)
6. Park Meadows (Lone Tree, CO)
7. Houston Galleria (Houston, TX)
8. Oakbrook (Oak Brook, IL)
9. Washington DC (Washington, DC)
10. New York (New York, NY)
11. (not open yet) Boston, MA?
12. Florida (Dania Beach, FL)
    
    Planned (red dots)
13. Vancouver, BC
14. Portland, OR
15. Sacramento, CA?
16. University Towne Center (San Diego, CA)?
17. Fashion Square (Scottsdale, AZ)
    (existing) Phoenix (Phoenix, AZ)
18. (from jobs page) North Park (Dallas, TX)
19. Madison, WI?
    Minneapolis, MN?
20. (from jobs page) Atlanta, GA
21. (from jobs page) Raleigh, NC service?
    TN location?
22. Pittsburgh, PA?
23. (existing) Toronto (Toronto, ON)
24. (existing) Westchester (White Plains, NY)?
25. Portland, ME?
    Montreal or Quebec City, QC?
26. Providence, RI?
27. (from jobs page) King of Prussia (Philadelphia, PA) and/or
    Paramus, NJ
28. Lincoln Road (Miami Beach, FL)
    Millenia (Orlando, FL)

Not marked on map
(from jobs page) St. Louis, MO service
(from jobs page) Oklahoma service

My apologies for the North American focus.

[Citizen-T]

Yeah, my guess is that is Raleigh or Greensboro, NC.

[vfx]

http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/08/auto....htm?iid=HP_LN

What is it about disruptive that you don't understand?

Representatives of the National Automobile Dealers Association also balked at the idea of Tesla owning dealerships."The business model that works best is having the manufacturers focus on building quality products and the dealers focused on selling and serving the vehicles," NADA said in a statement.So far, no outside auto dealers have taken action against Tesla's stores on this basis, Bellavia said, but they should. While traditional dealers may not feel threatened because Tesla sells "niche" products, their stores could set a dangerous precedent should a major automaker decide to try the idea.Meanwhile, Bellavia insisted, Tesla's idea is doomed to failure. He agrees with the NADA that car companies know how to make cars, but dealers know how to sell them. In the end, he said, Tesla will go back to the old ways, he insisted."The idea that they're reinventing automotive retailing is somewhat laughable," he said.