WENDELL - Universal Chevrolet plans to bring the new face of the car dealership to one of Wendell’s oldest building as the business expands its presence downtown.

Universal President Paul White has town approval, building permits and the go-ahead from Chevrolet to update their sales office, which will be built into the Todd Building on North Main Street.

Renovation of the building will begin in February with construction of the new sales office to start in March. White anticipates the new office will be ready to open in six months.

White’s family has been part of the Chevrolet dealership since the 1930s.

White now runs the business with his General Manager and partner Jim Gardner, but is also surrounded by family, including his son, Vince, his brother, Allen, and nephew Travis.

But White will tell you all 25 employees, and their customers, are family.

“We try to operate like that,” White said.

His belief is if you find the right people to hire, work with them and treat them like family, you will keep them and that will in turn help keep you customers.

That is why his employees have worked for the dealership an average of eight years, with some who have been there nearly 30 years.

The Chevrolet dealership has been a fixture on the first block of Main Street since the 1920s. The original Universal building is now used for servicing vehicles.

“It’s unusual, we’ve always been (downtown). Maybe some day we’ll move but with the Internet it’s not near as important as it used to be,” White said.

White said the family has always made a point of buying available land to ensure they had space for expansion.

“We have to look at, if we grow, how we keep from getting locked in,” White said.

The current main office is a former First Citizens Bank located right across the street from the original dealership.

“We had the idea for a new sales facility because we’ve been here 15 years and we’re on top of each other,” White said.

With that in mind, they bought the Todd building, a former Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge dealership, which is next door to Universal’s service building.

The old Todd building will receive a new façade and a renovated interior, but no structural changes will be made.

In January, White received approval from the town board for the front of the building to encroach into the Main Street right of way in order to install a façade that matches a new design Chevrolet has created for all of its 4,000 car dealerships.

White said the company will change the look of its dealerships about every 12 years.

Signs from previous design changes dating back to the 1990s, 1970s and 1960s still stand at the Universal buildings on Main Street.

White said the exterior and front half of the interior of the Todd building will match the Chevrolet design standards – including a two-car showroom, sales and finance offices. The back half of the building will include an indoor showroom, waiting room and other offices, including internet sales and a delivery specialist.

“We’re one of the first dealerships with a delivery specialist. These cars have so many computers, we have someone who will sit down and teach (new owners) everything the new cars can do,” White said.

White said once the building is renovated, he plans to move the next generation of the Universal Chevrolet family into the new sales office.

He and his brother and other staff will remain in the old bank building, for now.

The Whites have designs on creating a customer waiting area for the service department in that building, but that’s down the road.