April 25, 2014 • www.myvalleynews.com • The Valley News
VALLEY
The custom-made 35-foot tall obelisk with Mercedes-Benz logo can be seen for miles in either direction from the I-15 freeway.
The new 50,000-square foot main building overlooks the I-15 freeway and is prominently showcased above the new City of Temecula wall sign. Shane Gibson photos
date three cars at a time. The Parts Boutique is centrally located at the back of the showroom floor. The Customers’ Lounge features Peet’s Coffee in the full service coffee bar and fresh organic food items sourced locally from E.A.T. (Extraordinary Artisan Table) in Old Town Temecula. There is a separate children’s play area with games and monitors. The upstairs Employee Lounge features open space and the flexibility of glass nano walls to change the space. It can accommodate gatherings of up to 80 people. A large lit abstract artwork piece on the north wall depicts the Temecula Valley
and surrounding mountains. The beautiful front stairway is made of stainless steel and glass with wood inlays. “People enjoy being pampered and appreciate good service,” said Blumenthal. “We pride ourselves on delivering that experience and judge ourselves based on our customer satisfaction scores.” The dealership will have extended service hours to accommodate working professionals as well as complimentary shuttle services to the Promenade Mall and airport shuttle service to Ontario. Mercedes-Benz of Temecula also
plans to be an integral part of the community, participating in supporting children’s charities and schools. The dealership is opening with 40-50 staff, including General Manager Antony Chandler who has been with Fletcher Jones for 18 years and moved to Temecula nine months ago. “I am very impressed with Murrieta and Temecula and the people here,” said Chandler. “There couldn’t be a better place to open up a dealership!” To comment on this story online, visit www.myvalleynews.com.
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first three months of participation in the program. That’s something that many of the business who work hand in hand with IE511 provide, but that’s not the only reward Pechanga has given its employees. They’ve also awarded $51,518 in grocery gift cards for becoming new ridesharers as a way of saying thank you, according to Green. The end result has been that 1,111 Pechanga employees participated in the IE511 rideshare program, eliminating a total of 7,715,592 miles in trips to and from the resort. In terms of monetary gain that’s translated to approximately $4.6 million. Brian Cunanan, IE511 program manager, said the program is good for everyone who gets involved with it because it has some long lasting implications.
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“Ridesharing makes it possible for a single company to make a big positive difference in the environment,” Cunanan said. “Our studies show that more than 70-percent of people who rideshare for three months continue, even after they finish our initial $2.00 a day incentive program.” General Manager Rudy Prieto said he’s excited to be able to offer the rideshare benefits among a number of other benefits at Pechanga. “We tell our new team members all the time about all the incentives and perks they get when they come to work here, and the ridesharing program is certainly a valuable one. Not just for the ridesharer, but for our community as a whole.”
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To comment on this story online, visit www.myvalleynews.com.
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RIDESHARE from page A-1 is hardly new. It’s been one of the casino’s long lasting efforts to curb pollution caused by vehicle traffic. That’s something they’ve been doing in conjunction with another organization, IE511, for the past seven years, according to Public Relations Manager Ciara Green. IE511 is a website and communication service that’s dedicated to providing Southern California commuters situated in the Inland Empire region with information about traffic conditions, accidents, freeway closures, and ridesharing options among a number of other services. The ridesharing component of IE511 is what spurred a relationship with Pechanga. The service, which is part of a joint effort between Riverside Transit Authority (RTA) and San Bernardino County’s Associated Governments (SANBAG), has teamed up with nearly 300 Inland Empire worksites to foster programs similar to the one at Pechanga. Pechanga is one of those places where the ridesharing program is celebrated and resort officials make an effort to encourage their employees to consider ridesharing through incentives. These include a $2 incentive for every day a person decides to utilize ridesharing and this incentive is received for the
come equipped with the BlueTec diesel engines. Many owners “upfit” the vans with optional equipment and variations. The dealership has three large service bays dedicated solely to the Sprinters. The main structure was dropped in size from 80,000 square feet in the original plan to 50,000 square feet, but is still much larger than most of the dealerships in the area. Its prominent location overlooking the 15/215 freeways at the northern limits of the city is further enhanced by the 35-foot obelisk displaying the Mercedes logo that is visible for miles in both directions. The architect for the project was Gensler, who designed the Fletcher Jones dealerships in Newport Beach, Ontario and Chicago. A dual waterfall-fountain cascades smoothly down the curved walls of the center roundabout at the front entrance giving a resort-like feel. Customer parking is abundant with 40 spaces in the roundabout. Inside the grand showroom (that can hold eight cars on the main floor and three on a mezzanine level outfitted with unique steel stairs that can be driven on), is a clean modern European styling with imported lights and blue-tinted skylights that block out 70 percent of UV light. The abundance of glass partitions enhances the open floor plan and visibility. The Delivery Center adjacent to the Owners’ Lounge can accommo-
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“We will have lots of sales and service specials to launch our new dealership, especially for our ‘black card’ holders. People enjoy being pampered and appreciate good service,” said Blumenthal. “We pride ourselves on delivering that experience and judge ourselves based on our customer satisfaction scores.” The 30 service bays are housed in a fully-air conditioned area with large windows on both ends and viewing windows from the customer lounge. State-of-the-art equipment is used at every station. They can service 75-100 cars per day. “We had over 800 applications for jobs at the dealership,” said Blumenthal. “We found more qualified people than at any other location. We found that so many people live here in this community and have been commuting to other dealerships for years. All our hired techs are Mercedes Benz Star-certified. Three of our 12 techs are from the Newport Beach location with three more waiting to come over.” The separate 5,000 square foot detail and dry vacuum area can service eight cars at once. There is a separate car wash area. “We will wash any Mercedes car for free,” said Blumenthal. The dealership is one of a select few that will also be selling and servicing Sprinters – the MercedesBenz brand of large commercial vans that start around $40,000 and
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