They say good things come to those who wait, and good things have come to fans of Vescovo Toyota in Las Cruces. When the dealership made the move to the new location at 780 S. Valley Drive, George Vescovo, general manager of Vescovo Toyota, says they saw their sales shoot up… even as customers were inconvenienced by the ongoing road reconstruction of Valley Drive.
“We had so much pent up demand from our customers at our other location,” says Vescovo, “that when we moved into our new building, we’ve had the best month of sales, and the best May the dealership has ever seen.”
Vescovo has been following the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) road reconstruction closely, ever since the design stages in 2014. He helped suggest the phased design that would lessen the impact to businesses. He still comes to the monthly meetings hosted by NMDOT and recommends that other businesses also come and have their voices heard.
“There are four players in the Valley Drive project: NMDOT, AUI (the contractor), the City of Las Cruces, and stakeholders, such as businesses and residents,” he said. “It works best when all of them work collaboratively to make sure that there is more communication and transparency, especially when businesses are hurting.”
Vescovo acknowledges that being the only Toyota dealer in town has helped, and there are plenty of repeat customers who come back over and over again to the outstanding service department. “Come down and support all the Valley Drive businesses,” he encourages, especially restaurants. Valley Drive has some of the best.”
“Even if we’re sandwiched between the two phases of NMDOT construction, and it’s about to start in front of our door, we still have an extremely loyal customer base who helped us have the fantastic sales. We hope it continues.”
Stay informed about the Valley Drive road reconstruction developments: the next NMDOT public meeting is Tuesday, June 18th, at Thomas Branigan Memorial Library in the Roadrunner Room from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. For the most up-to-date information on the Valley Drive construction, please visit www.valleydrive.net. If you have immediate questions or concerns, please contact Project Manager Ryan Tafoya at (575) 418-7891.
The NMDOT Valley Drive road reconstruction project is scheduled for completion in early 2020; in the meantime, the City of Las Cruces encourages residents to continue supporting local businesses on Valley Drive.