Auto dealer expands in dormant 'auto row'

The dirt-and-rock lot on the east side of Kietzke Lane near Mill Street doesn't look like much.

But the lot promises a good-sized expansion for Lee Brothers Automotive once it's developed into additional display space.

Michael Lee, president of the 60-year-old auto sales and leasing company, says the additional half-acre of space will allow the company to boost its inventory of used cars to about 150 double the number that now are wedged onto the company's existing lot.

Inventory is important, Lee says, as well over three-quarters of the company's business comes from repeat buyers or new customers who are referred by existing customers.

While the company's staff of 15 devotes much of its time to scouting out cars at auctions and other venues to fill specific requests of customers, an inventory of vehicles will meet some customers' needs more quickly.

At any given time, Lee says, the company is searching for cars at the request of about 100 customers.

"We're looking for cars all the time," he says.

The expanded lot became a possibility when Apex Saw Works moved from a small building it leased on property owned by Lee Brothers into a new and larger facility next door.

Lee notes the larger lot will require a substantially larger investment in inventory. At $20,000 each, another 70 cars on the lot amounts to $1.4 million in inventory.

And it marks a significant commitment by Lee Brothers Automotive to Kietzke Lane at a time that segments of the car business are migrating from Reno's traditional auto row to new locations in south Reno.

The company looked at moving a few years ago, Lee says, but graduate-student researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno, estimated the company would face hefty costs in educating consumers about its new location.

"It was more money than we would have spent on the property we were looking at," Lee says.

Along with the sale and leasing of used cars, Lee Brothers also works as a broker, putting leasing deals together between new car dealers and its customers.

"We try to keep everything in Reno with Reno dealer because we're a Reno company ourselves," Lee says.