History abounds at Rodland Toyota in south Everett.
As a family business, the auto dealership’s roots stretch back 103 years when Norwegian immigrant Sig Follestad launched the original enterprise in 1912.
Wally Rodland joined the business in 1935, pumping gas. He worked his way through every job in the dealership and acquired ownership of it in 1962.
That same year, his son, Buzz Rodland, was hired to pump gas and do a variety of jobs, eventually following his father’s footsteps working everywhere in the business and becoming president in 1985.
And this year, the auto dealership is celebrating a significant milestone: 50 years as a Toyota dealership.
“In the early years, when my father, Wally, decided to accept a Japanese offer of a Toyota dealership, no one wanted to buy a Japanese-built car,” Buzz Rodland said.
Over the years, Toyota as a brand developed a stronger reputation. And Rodland Toyota has represented that brand in Everett. It’s worked out well for both the car company and the local business. The dealership moved from downtown Everett to its current location at 6816 Evergreen Way.
“We kept getting busier and busier.”
All of that business led to four major remodels and expansion projects at that site, including a recent $4 million renovation that spanned two years, creating a 72,000-square-foot building by taking over the adjacent site of the former Safeway grocery, and expanding the dealership’s service bays from seven to 35 hoists, as well as showcasing more cars and trucks.
Keeping employees happy is as important to Rodland as keeping customers satisfied, which is why the remodeling included adding 25 skylights above the service areas to make the work environment more comfortable for mechanics.
Employees once had to open heavy service doors by hand, he said, but now five automatic high-speed Rytec doors have been installed, another major improvement for employees.
As for future growth, Rodland said, “We continue to buy land but we already have room in our lower service bays to add more hoists when we need them, so we’re set for a while.”
He said he’s getting more compliments from customers about the lounge than practically anything else. The area has comfortable chairs, a flat-screen television screen and a full-service refreshment bar that serves coffee, mochas, snacks and freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies.
The company’s major expansion in 2013 was rewarded by Toyota with an assignment of an additional 800 vehicles for its lot and showroom.
Today, the company has also become noted for its precision wheel balancing and a rapidly expanding business in tire sales.
Buzz Rodland and his wife, Carol, married for 38 years, have two daughters and three grandchildren. Both of the daughters, Allison Rodland and Lindsay Crow, work at the business, too.
“I handle advertising, traditional media and social media outlets, including Facebook and Twitter,” Allison Rodland said. “The really important part is where customers share their stories in their own words. We’ve had 1,000 reviews already on Yelp and Google. We’re finding endorsements on sites we never knew existed.”
Crow, the director of operations for the business, is involved “in all departments, working with managers and coordinating activities,” she said.
Last January, Greg Leonard signed on as general manager of the business.
“Car sales and servicing is a real people business so it was important that both Buzz and I have common visions for the business and common values,” he said. “It’s very important to me that we protect the legacy of the business, always seeking opportunities to make it grow and improve services even more.”
Rodland Toyota has a heart, too. Rodland and the company’s 137 employees raised $56,000 for United Way of Snohomish County in 2013 and all of them also support several local nonprofits.
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