Next Tesla store location(s)?

[Tim M]

Iz,

DS has mentioned both Manhatten and Greenwich. He has also made it clear that this will be the first of several stores in the NY area. If you want to give him your thoughts, you should email him at Teslamotors.com, not sure that he reads this forum any longer, sadly.

 

[graham]

Has there been any feedback as to where in NY?

There is a little discussion on it. It seems that this has been an internal debate in Tesla for a while. They hope to have multiple stores in the area soon. Manhattan, while not as practical as Connecticut is better from a Marketing point of view for their first store. So the current thought is to take the extra expense of Manhattan as a marketing expense, and use that for its first showcase store in the area. Then quickly expand to surrounding areas. Although none of this is written in stone, yet.

Edit to add: ah... Tim M beat me to it! His suggestion of emailing directly is a good one.

 

[Joseph]

I think I heard somewhere that in New York City they probably aren't going to have a full dealership because land is at a premium. Instead, they were only going to have a service station in order to save money. I forgot where I heard that though, so their plans may have changed by now.

 

[Michael]

In Florida, let's also put some consideration on a spot that will most likely not be under water in a few years.

 

[vfx]

In Florida, let's also put some consideration on a spot that will most likely not be under water in a few years.

Well if everyone had a Tesla...

 

[Joseph]

Michael, by that same thinking then they couldn't have a store in New York City either!:tongue:

 

[Michael]

Sorry, just couldn't help myself. Also forgot to put in an appropriate emote! But I do hope that anywhere downtown in Miami is not considered; perhaps a little north and/or west?

 

[Joseph]

From Darryl,

"I am also hard at work on establishing showrooms in New York, Miami, Chicago and Seattle, but I will provide an update on that separately."

 

[Joseph]

From the Tesla email newsletter,

"More Tesla Stores are slated to open in New York, Chicago, Seattle, and Miami."

....and from Tom's blog post, Tesla Motors Seattle Road Show - Tom's Blog

"Darryl Siry spent the day scouting store locations and found three promising locations in Seattle, two in the South Lake Union area and one on Capitol Hill. There was vocal support for finding a suitable Bellevue location, but their real estate agent didn't show Darryl anything good there.

The greater Seattle area is split in half by Lake Washington, creating a commuting nightmare between Seattle and "the Eastside." Seattle is the big city with high population density, a big downtown area and many businesses, including Amazon and Starbucks. Bellevue is a growing city with its own downtown area. Surrounding that are the suburbs and the area's largest employers: Microsoft (in Redmond) and Boeing (in Everett, Renton, and Kent). Google has a small presence on both sides of the lake.

Crossing the lake during morning and evening rush hour is terrible, as traffic across the two bridges clogs up and slows to a crawl. So traveling the few miles from Seattle to the Eastside can be a big pain and will be a barrier to making a casual trip to the Tesla Store if you're on the wrong side of the lake.

Tesla has a tough choice in finding a location that stands out, isn't crazy expensive and is convenient for both current owners and prospective Roadster and Model S owners. Eventually, they will have a presence on both sides of the lake, but we all want a visible, accessible location on our side. The conversation was pretty similar to the discussions on the owners forum for New York, Chicago and Miami."

 

[doug]

So perhaps the next US store will be in Chicago?

Tesla Motors on an upswing? | Cleantech Group

Tesla Motors said today it has signed leases for two new showrooms for its electric vehicles...

The new showrooms in London's Knightsbridge district and Chicago are expected to be followed by sites under negotiation in Manhattan, Miami, Seattle and Munich later this year. The carmaker already operates two stores in California, in Menlo Park and Los Angeles.

 

[Tdave]

Hmm, this time no mention of Washington DC.

 

[dpeilow]

Can Tesla Make Money? Don’t Discount the “Wheee!” Factor | BNET Auto Blog | BNET

I encountered my first East Coast Tesla being polished in a lower Manhattan exotic car dealership this week. It’s a harbinger of what is to come: According to spokeswoman Rachel Konrad, Tesla (which is building its own dealer network) will open a New York showroom as early as April.

 

[domenick]

Manhatten , eh?

 

[doug]

So perhaps the next US store will be in Chicago?

Tesla Motors on an upswing? | Cleantech Group

Yes, the next US store is in Chicago.

Tesla plans Midwest sales, service center - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

The company also said it is finalizing site selection in Manhattan, Miami and Seattle and is scouting sites in Washington, D.C. and Munich, Germany.

Edited to add: Any more discussion about the Chicago store should go here: http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/tesla-motors/2346-chicago-sales-service-center.html

 

[Stewart W]

Florida store

There isn't one...Way overdue ..this is now becoming another Tesla Motors " story"..For 6+ months I have been calling and inquiring about the store ...noone really "knows" anything.
Florida is an important market and was targeted for one of the initial store opening(s) ( back in 2006) when I placed a deposit....Atleast I did not have to pay the infamous $8K upcharge for being more than 100 miles from a store location..or should I say a " planned store location"..

 

[Arnold Panz]

There isn't one...Way overdue ..this is now becoming another Tesla Motors " story"..For 6+ months I have been calling and inquiring about the store ...noone really "knows" anything.
Florida is an important market and was targeted for one of the initial store opening(s) ( back in 2006) when I placed a deposit....Atleast I did not have to pay the infamous $8K upcharge for being more than 100 miles from a store location..or should I say a " planned store location"..

This was in the latest newsletter about the Model S appearance on the Letterman show:

"Eventually we will have a Model S in all of our showrooms and at major auto shows. In the upcoming months, we'll bring the Model S to Chicago, Seattle, Miami and Washington as we prepare to open regional sales and service centers in those locations. Keep reading these newsletters for details."

I don't know what "upcoming months" means, but I would think they would at least announce these sites by the end of 2009.

 

[BBHighway]

Ya, we're still waiting for a Washington DC store, and even a NYC store. The Chicago store seems to moving forward, finally.

Tesla has been really, really slow about this. I was all for the Tesla model of having their own stores instead of regular car dealers, but that only works if Tesla actually DOES open the stores!

I would have to assume that the issue is money. Maybe they are waiting for shipments of the higher priced 2009 (2010) and Sport models to start. They will have significantly more profit and cash flow from those cars. The gov't loan will help too!

I would like to see them get the planned stores open, and start planning the second round. Maybe Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, Dallas, Phoenix. Pretty much all of the NFL cities should have Tesla stores well before the start of Model S production.

 

[vfx]

// Pretty much all of the NFL cities should have Tesla stores ...

Because football = Electric cars.


Like here in LA

 

[Arnold Panz]

Ya, we're still waiting for a Washington DC store, and even a NYC store. The Chicago store seems to moving forward, finally.

Tesla has been really, really slow about this. I was all for the Tesla model of having their own stores instead of regular car dealers, but that only works if Tesla actually DOES open the stores!

I would have to assume that the issue is money. Maybe they are waiting for shipments of the higher priced 2009 (2010) and Sport models to start. They will have significantly more profit and cash flow from those cars. The gov't loan will help too!

It still seems like a weird choice for essentially a start-up car company. The extra cash needed to sign leases, retrofit space, hire staff etc. in company-owned stores is much more capital intensive than just glomming onto existing dealerships (a la Fisker). Maybe when credit was easy and cash was cheap this wasn't a bad strategy, but with the money crunch we have now, this is going to make it that much tougher to pull off. If I end up with a Model S and a company-owned store in Miami, I'll be thrilled, but it makes the degree of difficulty getting there that much greater.

 

[efusco]

Geographically it would seem to make a lot more sense to put a store in St.Louis for the midwest, maybe in Atlanta to get the SE area, and Denver to get the Mountain region. I realize there is more money and more people who will likely buy and need service in those bigger cities that they're expanding to now, but a STL store would be in driving range of Chicago, KC, Memphis...and me, in Springfield, MO area--and that's what really matters here! ;-)