Latest News

The Signature Mazda Boutique is now open, offering Richmond Centre customers a chance to shop for a car.

Photo courtesy Jim Gordon

Signature Mazda opens in Richmond Centre

By Samuel Cheng

Published 2:06 PDT, Fri July 22, 2022

Last Updated: 2:39 PDT, Fri July 22, 2022

—

Richmond Centre shoppers can buy clothes, electronics, jewellery, and now also a new car with the recent opening of the Signature Mazda Boutique inside the mall.

Host Jim Gordon spoke with Signature Mazda’s general manager and co-owner Marko Joannou about the opening.

To see something like this in a regular mall is really cool and different. Talk a bit about what you wanted to do when you talked with head office and got Mazda on board.

We wanted to create something very different, more of a brand experience for clients that was not typical of what they would normally get (at) a car dealership. Here in Richmond Centre for example, we tend to get a very different type of client that just wants to get a chance to enjoy the experience of the brand for the first time and learn a little bit about it. This has become something that head office took a little while to understand and see, but once they did, (they) were very excited about it.

Your dealership in the Richmond Auto Mall has a great location, but the traffic that's been coming into this store (since it’s) been open certainly proves your point.

Yes, we've been very satisfied with the traffic walking through and we’re mostly excited about the fact that it's people that are becoming familiar with the brand for the very first time.

Let's talk about some of the things that a potential customer (or) a curious onlooker going through the mall can experience when they come in here—(how do you manage an) on-site test drive?

It's something that we're evolving. We have an interactive display where we take our clients through and give them an opportunity to build, price, and experience the vehicle digitally.

We have multiple colour charts that allow clients to visualize what their vehicle would look like when it's finally built. We have some on-site vehicles and we're also developing some other (virtual reality) technologies that we're hoping to incorporate into our facility here in the near future. For the actual physical test drive, we do have some vehicles available here at Richmond Centre, but we are also very close in proximity to our location in the auto mall. If a client wants to get a detailed drive, we take them there.

There are three very distinct vehicles here (in the showroom). You probably can't drive (them) out of the mall but you can let people get the physical feel. It's nice for potential clients to sit in one of these vehicles, take the digital test, and take an on-site test drive if they choose.

Absolutely. Right now, you're experiencing a very different Mazda brand experience than you would have even five years ago. We're now in seventh and eighth generation product technologies. The fit and finish really is the alternative to the premium market. Clients that would typically be looking at Mercedes, Lexus, or BMW look at our brand quite often because you get a little bit more vehicle for the money. You're also getting the highest quality brand on the globe.

You have this great ability to not get complacent with your brand. This boutique is a perfect example of that. What do you see coming that will add to that customer experience?

I think what we tend to do in situations like this is to listen to the voice of the customer. Customers are usually quite transparent about what they like and what they don't like. The U.S. and the Canadian markets are so close, yet so different. Most U.S. consumers enjoy the online buying experience, but in Canada, a little bit less so. I think it’s because you have a little bit more variety here and more dealers per capita. We just want to make sure that the client feels great about their shopping experience and at the time of delivery. For us, that's the beginning of it all because we enjoy that. (It) gives us an opportunity to show the client how great we are during the ownership experience.

Like many businesses, if you get complacent with your customer, there's lots of competition. Talk about the Mazda fitting room.

The Mazda fitting room was really developed by Mazda Canada. (It is) a great idea and it's an opportunity for clients to be able to customize their selection. For example, you can choose different styles of wheels (and) different types of trim on your vehicle, things that are quite unique and it allows you to feel that you're customizing your vehicle.

For the full video interview, visit: richmondsentinel.ca/videos