The former used car lot in Maplewood at 7469 Manchester will remain a car lot. A Total Access Urgent Care planned for the spot didn’t work out after Total Access and the city couldn’t agree on signage, according to a partner with the car lot. See also Mayor: sign dispute caused Total Access president to ‘take his toys and go home’
Jim Michaels and Eric Andrews plan to open Maplewood Motors on the lot in 15 to 20 days, Michaels said on Wednesday. “We both gave up our careers to make a run at Maplewood Motor Company,” he said.
Michaels said they’ll specialize in imports — Toyotas, Nissans, and some domestics and SUVs.
He said this lot will be different. “When the customer comes in they’re going to actually buy from the owners, Eric and myself,” Michaels said. “They won’t deal with a salesperson.”
Michaels said he worked on the lot when he was 18. He said Maplewood is much busier than he remembers.
“I’ve been around Maplewood a long time and I’m excited to actually be part of the community.” He said he has a friend at MRH and they plan to do some fundraising for special education in Maplewood.
The former used car lot was grandfathered in. When that one moved out the owner of the property had a six-month deadline, after which another car lot wouldn’t be permitted. Maplewood Motors made the deadline.
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I love that this location is going to remain the same type of business it has been for decades. Seems a number of readers aren’t enthusiastic about car lots, but I LOVE them! They are a nice alternative to giant dealerships, and buyers can choose from a number of makes and models at one location. Plus, it sounds like the two new owners are dedicated to making a difference in Maplewood. I am so happy that a local business is going to be on this site, and not another doc-in-the-box. We have enough of those! And many of these “foreign” cars have provided great jobs in the U.S. (My Toyota, for example, was made in Mississippi!) Good luck to Mr. Michaels and Mr. Andrews, and welcome to Maplewood!
As a business owner myself I don’t want to discourage any business and coming to Maplewood my only issue that I have with car dealerships is that the tax does not stay in the community or the location where the car dealership it is. this is something that should be changed across all of St Louis County are Missouri so the communities that offer to put in the car lots get to reap the benefits of the taxes.
I drove by the Total Access at Watson and Jamieson earlier tonight, and was reminded of how hideously awful their signage can be. This is in a former Blockbuster, and the signage is overwhelming and not attractive. The brand new TAUC location at Hampton and 44 also has overwhelming signage. While I’m not enthused about a car lot going in there again, I think these two men may take some pride in the property, and my hope is that it will be visually nicer – and perhaps a bit less in/out traffic (and certainly less “panic” traffic), than an urgent care would have been.
This has been my dream for a long time it will not be a run down used car lot and we will do everything to help the community in a positive way. Please stop by and talk to me and my partner Eric about your concerns we want to help Maplewood not hurt Maplewood
Mr. Michels, I just wanted to say that I commend you on being very active on this site and replying to the concerns people have. Also the fact that you have readily and repeatedly offered for people to come by, say hi, ask questions, etc.
I agree. You have really improved the lot.. with a lot of work! Best wishes for a good start to your new business and welcome to Maplewood.
The improvements to the building and lot are already looking good—welcome to the neighborhood, guys! Love that they’re planning on giving back already.
I would have had serious concerns about getting ambulances in and out of there. If you go by the Rock Hill TAUC you’ll see that emergency vehicles are a common sight.
This is what happens when our elected officials get power hungry and refuse to work with people. They forget who they work for. What would the people of maple wood rather have? An urgent care, or another used car lot? Why couldn’t they let them have a sign that they felt was appropriate for their business?
There is an Urgent Care on Big Bend and yet another Urgent Care being built a few blocks down from it on Big Bend. There are also TAUCs on Hampton, Jamieson, and in Rock Hill. We have enough Urgent Cares. If those are too far away, it’s too urgent. Go to the ER.
How could a sign be that significant of a sticking point for a company that is planning on putting a brand new building down? What could have possibly been proposed?
I’ve seen the location and quite frankly I had trouble figuring out how an urgent care was going to fit there. There’s not enough room for a decent sized building AND parking on that lot. I guess they were perhaps planning to buy out some of the residence to get enough space. Also how were ambulances supposed to have gotten in and out of there? The traffic there is terrible and gets constantly bottle necked in that area. (And yes there would have been ambulances involved with this to take people to the hospital who might have needed more help than an urgent care could give.) I’m glad they decided not through with this badly thought out idea. i’d much rather have a new car lot than this mess.
Ambulances? This is ambulatory urgent care – walk in / walk out. You think the used car lot will have fewer cars in it than patients’ cars ?
I frequently work out at the Club Fitness in Rock Hill. It seems like 10 to 20% of the time Rock Hill emergency services are at the TAUC.
Ambulances are called if a patient is very ill or having a severe allergic reaction to medication. Being an urgent care center doesn’t mean that ambulances dont go there!
Wrong. I see ambulances at a lot of urgent cares and they do transfer patients to hospitals when necessary. That’s exactly what happened when my brother went there thinking he was having heartburn. Turned out it was something else entirely and he needed to go to the hospital.
Well said!
Nice job, guys. We get to keep the car lot.
welp. this sucks. While yes, there are many options around, an urgent care would have been better than another run down used car lot. I guess maplewood would rather have an ugly car lot over a new building.
I’m glad we have people who want to come build their small business in Maplewood. I think this is a premature and unfair remark – we don’t have any reason to believe it will be “run-down”. I don’t know the owners but I think they should be given a shot at building a productive and successful business.
Thank you I am one of the owners and it will not be a run down carlot many people have dropped by to say how good it looks we personally pulled all the weeds and patched the lot and have now sealed it. We will paint the building to give it a fresh look with big flower pots and many other upgrades just give us a chance we want to blend into the awesome business district of maplewood and maybe just maybe stand out as a business everyone can be proud of.
I promise it will not be a run down used carlot. I understand how you feel we are going to do everything in our power to make maplewood proud to have us we are 2 family guys who want to provide for our families and give back all I ask is for a chance to change your mind please stop by and talk to us voice any and all concerns you have I promise to listen and try to accommodate you and all the people who have reservations about us. How do I compete with urgent care, and I am sure it was more than just a sign that stopped them let’s all be rational I told Doug this is just a rumor I had no proof of the rationale behind why they are not developing the site.
You don’t need to apologize or defend your new business. Small businesses drive the economy. Look at how many vacant former businesses there are in the city of St. Louis. Pretty easy for people to stand on the sidelines and throw rocks at those who take on a business risk.
woooo used car lots