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Holman Automotive just keeps growing. In the US, the 100-year-old organization stretches from the East Coast to the Pacific Northwest and just made new headway into the Carolinas via its March 2024 acquisition of Leith Automotive Group. The sale is the biggest retail acquisition in Holman’s history, effectively doubling business overnight: 58 dealerships, 34 brands, and just shy of 4,500 retail employees spread across nine states. Holman focuses on its fleet operations in Canada, Mexico, the UK, and Germany.
Michael Moonan is used to the growth. ABQ last spoke with him in 2018 when he was just a couple of years removed from Holman’s acquisition of Kuni Automotive in 2016. The director of real estate development’s team currently sits around 30, with more to join following the integration of the Leith staff. That’s the growth Moonan was looking for when he came to Holman in the first place.
“I came here 10 years ago to help grow a company that, despite its growth, manages to hold onto its family values,” Moonan says. “We’re going to have over a billion dollars’ worth of real estate, but the team will continue to operate like a little real estate company within the bigger company. There’s a natural family vibe here that remains despite how we continue to grow, and I think that’s special.”
One Common Vision
The Leith acquisition is just one of many concurrent projects Moonan’s team is overseeing, and those projects are all over the map. A new BMW store is opening soon in Tigard, Oregon, a replacement location for a former site in nearby Beaverton. How did those negotiations start? Not great.
Moonan was told that the community had no interest in a car dealership. That message came straight from the office responsible for doing economic development in the community, the one assumably most excited about creating local jobs.
“That may not sound great, but you have to understand that a few years back, I was helping a major retailer install grocery stores in communities where they were not welcomed with open arms,” Moonan says, laughing. “I learned how to listen, I learned how to work through a process, and I learned that sometimes, you just need to keep moving forward.”
Moonan and his team dug a little deeper. When the community of Tigard referred to car dealerships, it was thinking of fly-by-night operations and armies of inflatable balloon men flailing at all hours of the day. It didn’t picture a high-end BMW dealership operated by a company with a 100-year history.
“It turned out that the mayor liked our proposition,” Moonan says. “He connected us with who we needed to speak to, and we very well might be open by the time anyone reads this.” In fact, it opened its doors March 25, 2024.
Behind the Scenes
Moonan’s work is more than just retail locations. The construction of a new central reconditioning site in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, that will be the hub for all nonrevenue generating automotive work, like predevelopment inspection, is about to commence. The site was owned by Holman but mainly used for additional parking for extra vehicles. Now it will be paying dividends.
Thanks to the new site, none of the New Jersey dealerships will have to expand their own footprints to accommodate the additional work. The process required a close working relationship with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and a lot of legwork, but Moonan is proud of what his internal team and a qualified team of consultants were able to accomplish before new regulations were put in place.
That same pride applies to the extensive renovations that Holman’s 2,000 New Jersey office workers are seeing in their work environments. Post-pandemic, Holman has adopted a hybrid office environment and relies on most employees to be on-site Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
“We’re going through a big change when it comes to the collaborative and agile seating compared to the workstations of old,” Moonan says. “We presently are at 90 percent workstations and 10 percent agile and collaborative space. We’re shifting to 60/40. Everybody will still have access to a workstation, but the environment will be completely different, and I think it’s just plain better.”
The new office spaces will include more collaborative rooms, smaller focus rooms for individual tasks or phone calls, and open spaces. Each space (including open areas) will be acoustically treated for optimal sound isolation.
Holman is working to create a campus-like feel that includes a gym, a bistro, and a uniting location for the family business. Additionally, Moonan says outside will be as welcoming as inside.
Moonan has so much more on his plate, but this is why he came to Holman in the first place. He’s helping ensure another century of success for an automotive group that is now stretching in almost every direction.
All Aboard the Team
Michael Moonan is a director of real estate development, but he might want to consider recruiting. He’s personally brought on a handful of high performers for Holman’s service technician crew, even ones who hadn’t considered that career before. Moonan talked his daughter’s boyfriend into giving it a go, so you know he means business.
“I just think that this important type of work is not given its due, but I believe it’s an incredible path for young people to walk down,” Moonan says. “We’re always looking for good talent, and you can have more than a job here, you can have a career. If you’ve thought about it, I’d challenge you to give it a shot.”
Miller Construction Company is a prominent statewide design/builder and construction services firm founded in 1973 with a farsighted partnership approach based on fostering long-term relationships. Miller has extensive experience building high-profile automotive dealerships with state-of-the-art facilities, incorporating strict corporate brand standards often within tight timelines. Miller’s Value Design process outlines potential cost factors and prevents change orders, whether retrofitting an existing facility or providing new construction services. In today’s fiercely competitive marketplace, it’s more crucial than ever that your facility showcases your vehicles in the most exciting, contemporary way—designed to attract customers, increase sales, and build strong customer relationships.
