After 43 years, North Star Motors is going as strong as ever
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Updated: October 26, 2009 3:21 PM
North Star Motors has been in Cranbrook for over 40 years, offering quality vehicles to area residents. The business was started by Frank Spring 43 years ago as a Volkswagon dealership at the 100 block of Van Horne in what is now the Culligan building.
"We moved to our current location 13 years ago and have had 13 great years," said dealer/owner Derek Spring, Frank's son.
"It's been a tremendous move for us. It's a great location." said Derek Spring. "We're well positioned, we think, in going forward."
North Star Motors is a full line GM dealer with dealerships in Cranbrook and Creston. The store sells Oldsmobiles, Chevrolets and GM's and is well represented in parts, service and body work.
North Star has had to deal with some adversary with the down turned economy and the problems that General Motors has had, but Spring feels that they have become stronger and more customer oriented.
"We've seen a lot of changes in the last 8-10 months," said Spring. "It's forced all of us to revamp our business. In today's market we've got a new direction, a new change and were happy with things at this point."
Spring is excited about the many new and exciting features offered in new cars and trucks. "The advances in the technology are just endless," said Spring. "General Motors are right on the right track. Everything is based on fuel economy. Everyone wants to see great fuel economy. We have the new Equinox, a four cylinder vehicle. It's the top economic vehicle in it's class. That is a huge statement cause it's a tremendous vehicle. We couple it with an all wheel drive and we've got a winner. You look at our new Buick Enclave - there's nothing in the industry that comes close, in my opinion. We've got the Chevy Volt, an all-electric vehicle, coming out next year."
In addition to their great selection of cars and trucks, North Star Motors also offers full service, parts and bodywork for their vehicles.
"We've got a very good fixed operation here," said Spring, "a very, very good parts department. Very well staffed, very well stocked."
North Star has added new management and new staff to their operations in an effort to make the dealership more customer oriented.
"We've had some changes in our service department," said Spring. "we've definitely got the most expertise we've had in years. We're very happy with our direction there. Our bodyshop just won another award through ICBC for customer satisfaction. That's the third year in a row. I do believe there's been nobody else that has done that."
North Star Motors in Cranbrook, as well as in Creston, is in a great position to continue moving forward as the economy looks up.
"The new philosophy going is - we have to be 100% customer oriented," said Spring. "We think we've been that way all along, but we've just taken it to a whole new level. We've made lots of staff changes. We've got great people working here. We've just take the dealership in a whole new direction that we think is going to serve Cranbrook and the East Kootenays to the next degree."
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