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May 3, 2007
What's the opposite of painfully shy?
How about Herb Chambers.
Projo photograper Steve Szydlowski and I went to Chambers' local Cadillac dealership yesterday to interview New England's biggest auto dealer and the next thing we know we are floating over the city in his private helicopter on our way up to his new Lexus dealership in Sharon, Mass.
The dealership, which is scheduled to open June 1, is a $30 million extravanganza which Chambers himself calls "the craziest thing I've ever done."
Certainly it's on a scale that boggles the mind. Apart from the money, consider the sheer size - 110,000 square feet with a showroom with 50-foot windows that is capable of holding 40 cars. And behind that, 50 service bays immaculately laid out in a light, spacious hall.
Upstairs, the customer waiting area is equipped with a coffee bar, flat screen TVs, a fireplace and children's play area. The bathrooms look like they belong in a five-star hotel and even the staircase is extra wide to give the sense of space and luxury.
Chambers has clearly gone over the top with this building - but that is a relative term when talking about a man with 38 dealerships who is currently having a yacht built in Germany that will be 257 feet long and have a crew of 22.
Chambers is larger than life, and you can read my report and see Steve's photographs in the projoCars section of this Saturday's Providence Journal.
Posted by 
at 11:17 AM to Companies
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Posted by: Mercedes on June 16, 2007 6:36 PM
Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published.
