Photo/Tammy Curtis
The Spring River Chronicle welcomed Wise Auto to the area last week.
A new business recently opened in Highland and based on the success of the other location, plan to open new locations. Wise Roads is the second location for the pre-owned car lot, but also are home to the second Bentelli golf cart dealership in the state.
General Manager John Erickson is the co-owner of the company. He and owner Jacob Chamlies, worked together when Jacob was 18. Erickson worked with him and trained him at a franchise in Jonesboro. Chamlies went on to be a finance manager, sales manager and finance director. Erickson got out of the car business because he is an amputee.
Chamlies, who owns rental property where Erickson was helped him. He came to Erickson last October and told him he would like to start his own car lot. He told him that he would only do it if Erickson would help him.
They opened the first Wise Roads in the Hoxie Walnut Ridge area and opened the Highland location in the middle of August.
“There is a difference in a need and a want. If you need a car, we can put you in a car. Our Walnut Ridge location has a 98 percent approval rating. That is how we exploded. Word just went crazy,” Erickson explained.
Due to the exceptional success of the first location, they found the Highland location. Primarily, the men seek locations in smaller towns on busy traffic areas. They will be opening a third location in Harrisburg next week. They now plan to open two locations every six months.
By utilizing portions Car Mart’s business model, they men have tweaked the model and found great success. Unlike Car Mart, they do not have in house financing, but have access to a broad range of financing options for every credit situation.
With the two men’s experience in selling vehicles, they also opted to open Arkansas’ first Bentelli golf cart dealership within their pre-owned lots. The carts are very popular and Erickson said with five golf courses in close proximity to the Highland location, the carts are certain to be great sellers for them. The Bentelli of Arkansas website spotlights their carts.
The Highland location sales team includes Josh Morris, Austin Bassham and Kimberly Clem, who is also the dealership’s administrative assistant. All the staff live locally and enjoy Spring River Area.
Wise Roads has had a lot of foot traffic for just being in business less than two weeks.
Erickson invites the public to stop by and take a look at their inventory.
Wise Roads is dedicated to providing their customers with the ultimate automobile buying experience. They have extensive relationships in the dealer community which allows them to purchase a wide variety of lease returns and new car trades at exceptional values. This enables Wise Roads to pass along huge savings on the highest quality vehicles to their customers.
Spring River Chronicle welcomed them to the area last week and next week, the staff will be treated to Beach Club Barbecue for lunch as a way to let them know we appreciate their business.
The Spring River Chronicle provides free welcomes, with company biographies to all new businesses in the area without any obligation or membership fees. They want your business to succeed and also provide lunch to thee staff of these new small businesses in the area.
To view their online inventory, visit wiseroadsauto.com