CarMax(R) Completes Acquisition of New-Car Franchises in Dallas/Ft. Worth
13 May 1999
CarMax(R) Completes Acquisition of Chrysler-Plymouth and Jeep New-Car Franchises in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Market
RICHMOND, Va., May 13 -- The CarMax subsidiary of Circuit
City Stores, Inc. (NYSE: CC; KMX) announced today that it has completed the
acquisition of Hilltop Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc. and the Jeep franchise rights
of Red Bird Jeep-Eagle, which are both located in the Dallas/Ft. Worth market.
CarMax will combine the franchises into a single CarMax Chrysler-Plymouth-
Jeep store at the former Hilltop location at Interstate 35 East, two miles
south of Interstate 20, in Lancaster, Texas. The store will open early next
week and will sell a full line of new Chrysler and Plymouth cars and minivans
and a full line of Jeeps and Jeep sport utility vehicles.
The location also will become CarMax's second used-vehicle satellite store
in the Dallas market. The satellite stores provide the same low, no-haggle
prices; wide selection and quality service and guarantees as other CarMax
superstores, but utilize the back office and reconditioning facilities of
larger "hub" superstores in the same market.
"We are excited to enhance our presence in the Dallas/Ft. Worth market by
adding new vehicles to our no-haggle, low-price consumer offer and by adding a
used-car satellite store that will allow us to efficiently extend the CarMax
used-car offer to more consumers," said W. Austin Ligon, president of CarMax.
"The combination of DaimlerChrysler vehicles and the CarMax consumer offer
continues to create an outstanding car-buying experience for the customer and
successful operations for DaimlerChrysler and for CarMax," said Ligon.
CarMax introduced its consumer offer to the Dallas/Ft. Worth market in
September 1997 when it opened a store at 3100 Spur 482, near the Texas Stadium
in Irving. Two more CarMax auto superstores have opened since then, one at
Interstate 30 and Eastchase Parkway in Ft. Worth and one at LBJ Freeway and
Northwest Highway in Garland.
CarMax operates four Chrysler-Plymouth-Jeep franchises, two in the Atlanta
market, one in the Orlando market and one in the Los Angeles market. CarMax
also operates a Dodge franchise in the Los Angeles market and a Jeep franchise
at the CarMax Auto Mall, a nine-franchise auto mall and used-car superstore in
Kenosha, Wis., halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee.
In 1998, the CarMax store in Norcross, Ga., was the leading Chrysler-
Plymouth dealer in the U.S. Both CarMax Atlanta-market Chrysler franchises
carry the Five Star rating, DaimlerChrysler Corporation's highest award for
customer service excellence, and both Rank among the nation's top 100 Five
Star dealers.
CarMax began development of the used-car superstore concept in 1991 and
has been revolutionizing the way consumers think about automobile purchases
since opening its first store in Richmond, Va., in 1993. With the addition of
the Dallas/Ft. Worth franchises and used-car superstore, CarMax will operate
35 locations, including 30 used-car superstores and 20 new-car franchises.
Circuit City Stores, Inc. is a leading national retailer of consumer
electronics, major appliances, personal computers and entertainment software.
Additional CarMax information is available at http://www.carmax.com. Additional
Circuit City information is available at http://www.circuitcity.com.
This release contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to
risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, risks associated with
the development of a new retail concept. Additional discussion of factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's
projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations is contained in the
company's SEC filings.