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Tesla Fashion Island Grand Opening Weekend (2011-11-18)

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I just got an email from Tesla announcing their Grand Opening at Fashion Island for this Friday, Nov 18, 2011.
(For those of you who are not Orange County savvy, Fashion Island is a shopping mall in Newport Beach.)

The announcement lists an address of 367 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA

I find the announcement both exciting and disturbing, as there is *already* a Tesla store in Newport Beach:
1100 Pacific Coast Highway, Newport Beach, CA, 92663, not five miles from Fashion Island.
(Tesla Newport Beach | Tesla Store Locations | Tesla Motors)

Since I just got this message this morning, I have not had time to dash over to see if they are moving to a new store, or adding a new store.
I know Newport Beach is loaded with people in the kind of tax bracket necessary to allow Tesla purchases, but TWO stores? Even Fletcher Jones Mercedes, Sterling BMW, Newport Lexus, and McKenna Porsche, and Ferrari of Newport Beach, have only a single store. (Audi and Bentley have to share. ) (Lamborghini Newport Beach isn't really in Newport - They're in nearby Costa Mesa.)

I'll have to clear my schedule for Friday evening and check it out. Maybe order a couple.

-- Ardie
I like white. My wife prefers black.

Tesla-Fashion Island notice.jpg
 
I must say those Betas sure get around. Amazing the number of shows and store openings they've covered in the last few months with just 2 cars: Toronto, Houston, NY, Bellevue, Newport. It's almost like a shell game - at how many places can they seem to have a Model S at once?
 
This move sure makes it look like Tesla will implement the Hub and Spoke type store concept. The West Coast Hwy store is definitely their biggest store in Southern California. Perhaps they will use the West Coast Hwy store to hold inventory etc while they acquire high profile retail space in major shopping malls. I bet in the next few months they acquire another high profile retail space in LA.
 
This move sure makes it look like Tesla will implement the Hub and Spoke type store concept. The West Coast Hwy store is definitely their biggest store in Southern California. Perhaps they will use the West Coast Hwy store to hold inventory etc while they acquire high profile retail space in major shopping malls. I bet in the next few months they acquire another high profile retail space in LA.

I wanted to go to the opening but had to work though it. Like others I was told the old store will become a service center. Seems like they just finished it. It has a very prominent location next to a Ferrari dealer so I'm sure there will be some sort of sales.

The new LA store will be on the 3rd street Promenade in Santa Monica.
 
I wanted to go to the opening but had to work though it. Like others I was told the old store will become a service center. Seems like they just finished it. It has a very prominent location next to a Ferrari dealer so I'm sure there will be some sort of sales.

The new LA store will be on the 3rd street Promenade in Santa Monica.

3rd Street is as High Profile as it gets (I would assume they are paying well into mid 6 figures a month for any signifcantly sized space on 3rd st) :wink: Personally I would have rather seen Tesla put that money into R&D, it seems like all these flashy grand openings/locations are wasteful for a startup car company. This is an unproven strategy and there are already so many unknowns when creating a brand new car from the ground up, is it really smart to complicate it further with expensive retail locations?


I am almost positive the West Coast store was probably a stop-gap and in hindsight Tesla probably overpayed significantly to for what will ultimately become (a service/inventory center). Pretty sure when that lease runs out they will look for a larger, lower profile space somewhere else.


Do you think this was the strategy from the beginning or that it evolved over time (i.e. Tesla needed stores in certain markets and was willing to take anything they got, and figure out where to really go later?)
 
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There's been some evolution in the strategy since Blankenship signed on. Tesla is splitting the point-of-sale from the service center, which should allow Tesla to get higher-end real estate for the point-of-sale (and lower-end real estate for service) with the same marketing budget.

Tesla is wise to steer away from the "auto mile" strips that ring every U.S. city, but rather to position Tesla as a premium consumer brand like Apple or Bang & Olufsen. Rethinking the retail model for car purchases is a good thing.
 
Tesla is wise to steer away from the "auto mile" strips that ring every U.S. city, but rather to position Tesla as a premium consumer brand like Apple or Bang & Olufsen. Rethinking the retail model for car purchases is a good thing.

Also, electric cars as such still need a lot of "informing the public" and reaching those who (almost) don't know about them and wouldn't look for them (even though there may be some level of curiosity).
 
Also, electric cars as such still need a lot of "informing the public" and reaching those who (almost) don't know about them and wouldn't look for them (even though there may be some level of curiosity).
I think that's a great point. The other auto stores can exist on outskirts of the city and other areas with big lots for cars because the product brands and capabilities are well known and people seek them out. With Tesla, they need to generate name awareness and educate at the same time. Being very visible in high foot traffic areas helps achieve that goal.
 
... (I would assume they are paying well into mid 6 figures a month for any signifcantly sized space on 3rd st) :wink: Personally I would have rather seen Tesla put that money into R&D, it seems like all these flashy grand openings/locations are wasteful for a startup car company...

They have to start from scratch. Spend an hour in one of these new high traffic stores. The overtly young sales-kids answer the "howfardoesitgoHowlongdoesittaketochargeDoesyourelectrictybillgoup?" questions nonstop. Dozens per hour. Maybe they get a buyer nibble 3 times a day. For them the manager comes out and talks money and gives them the ride of their life.

If Tesla were in an Auto mall the only customers that would walk in would be someone already educated about electric cars and interested in hearing about them. Though an automall might get more traffic than the LA store does now. The Newport store (ex-Rolls Royce dealer) probably gets some one-stop Ferrari-Tesla shoppers.
 
Tesla's avoidance of the traditional use of dealers is giving them the flexibility to evolve their marketing/sales strategy. If they had gone with dealers, they would've been stuck with the same old way that everyone else markets and sells cars. Owning the stores, they can change things relatively quickly, as needed.
 
Tesla's avoidance of the traditional use of dealers is giving them the flexibility to evolve their marketing/sales strategy. If they had gone with dealers, they would've been stuck with the same old way that everyone else markets and sells cars. Owning the stores, they can change things relatively quickly, as needed.

Yep, they've really taken the Apple model to heart. Own EVERYTHING! :)
 
There's been some evolution in the strategy since Blankenship signed on. Tesla is splitting the point-of-sale from the service center, which should allow Tesla to get higher-end real estate for the point-of-sale (and lower-end real estate for service) with the same marketing budget.

Tesla is wise to steer away from the "auto mile" strips that ring every U.S. city, but rather to position Tesla as a premium consumer brand like Apple or Bang & Olufsen. Rethinking the retail model for car purchases is a good thing.

I do not think that the Newport Beach Store on West Coast hwy is lower end than Fashion Island, probably the opposite. It does not make much sense to acquire high visibility/expense real estate for service centers (like they did in Newport Beach). Its obvious they were in a rush and just took what they could get in this market.

I guess I cannot grasp the concept of purchasing a car the way I would purchase a TV or Computer. Most of the people who will be buying these cars are not the casual mall shopper but rather individuals who have done research and knows what they want. This may change over time, but right now there is no doubt in my mind that the vast majority of people who buy these cars, do a ton of research beforehand. If this is the type of consumer that are buying these cars, is it necessary to lease expensive shop space where 90% of the people who come through the doors are not your customer? Heck I think this strategy may help Chevy and Nissan, people will go into Tesla's showroom, learn about ev's, hop online and go and buy a cheaper electric car. Its good for the cause I guess, but when you are selling 60-100k cars instead of 2k computers or 400 dollar ipods I think the type of consumer that you are trying to attract is different than the ones that shop at malls. If Tesla was selling Tata Nano's or Vespa's this concept may work but at that price point I am not sure how much of an increase in sales this type of store concept will add over the traditional model. People tend to seek these cars out (like any other high end marque). This is why Rolls Royce moved from that space to over by the airport, they realized that visibility is not necessary, the individuals that want that particular car will go and seek it regardless of where the dealership is located. Some mighty risky moves Tesla is making! I could understand implementing this later on, they could have very easily kept their existing stores (and added new locations similar to what they have now in new markets), and just leased nearby warehouse space for the cars/service.
 
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