Clintons landmark building takes shape in new heart of Macarthur

A new landmark is taking shape at the entrance to the geographic centre of Macarthur at Gregory Hills.

And a company synonymous with Macarthur, Clintons, is behind this multi million dollar project.

Narellan firm Coastline Developments is carrying out construction work on the building, which will house the new Clintons showroom and sales centre for Toyota and Lexus and an incredible underground service centre:

• It will be the largest Lexus showroom in Australia at 1,200 metres squares and the first new Lexus showroom in Australia for 10 years;

• a 3,000 square metre state of the art underground service centre that has to be seen to be believed. Fully tiled from entry to exit, it boasts 27 service bays and a full car wash machine;

• energy efficient showroom with engineered eight metre glass façade;

• Marble entry floor with concierge;

• external parking for 110 vehicles;

• Conference room and board room upstairs for training;

• High speed internet across the entire site.

As well as creating jobs during construction, on completion later this year this landmark building will employ up to 80 people, including 40 in the service department and another 40 in sales and administration.

♦ It takes a lot of confidence in a region to pour hundreds of millions of dollars in project such as this, and Clintons obviously do.

Clintons dealer principal Kurt Kordovolos confirms that the company is excited to be such a big part of Macarthur, a region on the rise.

“This is the culmination of many years of hard work and many millions of dollars to create a state of the art and quite significant new landmark building,’’ he says.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“It’s an investment in our people and our community that we hope shows the business confidence we have in Macarthur,’’ Mr Kordovolos said.[/social_quote]

“As a family business we are very proud of what has been achieved in our region and with our new Toyota and Lexus showroom to be completed at Gregory Hills before the end of the year we can’t be happier,’’ says Mr Kordovolos.

“This is an exciting time for us as much as it is for Macarthur,’’ Mr Kordovolos said.

♦ The Clintons story in Macarthur is not simply about a car dealer.

Indeed the Clintons Motor Group is considered one of the oldest car dealerships in Australia.

It all started when Jack and William Clinton founded J.W &W Clinton Carrying Company in 1935 with the acquisition of two model Ford trucks.

Eventually this company became Clintons Transports Pty Ltd, supporting their other business, which was mining in the Burragorang Valley.

Then William Clinton launched Clintons Distributions which is the pioneering General Motors dealership in the area in 1945.

Despite the scarce supply of cars during that time, Clintons was still able to deliver hundreds of classics, from Pontiacs, Buicks, Oldsmobiles, Vauxhalls, Bedfords, Mapleleafs and Australia’s own car, Holdens.

On March 5, 1945, Clintons Motors signed a contract with General Motors to be able to market their products in the Macarthur region.

This big move enabled Clintons Motors to offer a wide selection of vehicles to its community customers.

The first Chevrolet sedan was picked up from the Pagewood plant on July 19, 1945.

Clintons became a Toyota dealer in the mid 1980s.

In 2007 Mario Kordovolos, who had been Barry Clinton’s right-hand man for many years, took full control of the Clintons Toyota dealership.

For many years Clintons were based in Queen Street, before moving on to several other sites in the Macarthur region.

♦ Clintons know that the big move to Gregory Hills marks another milestone in their history, so as part of their new strategy they have brought on board a local marketing wiz, none other than Steve Wisbey.

Wisbey jumped at the chance to become Clintons’ group marketing manager just a few weeks ago – who wouldn’t knowing that the stable includes such a motoring variety, from Toyota to Lexus and BMW?

But it actually meant a lot more to Wisbey, one of the most well known names across the Macarthur region.

“This has got to be the best marketing role in the whole of Macarthur,’’ he says after showing me around the Gregory Hills showroom and landmark to be.

“The best thing about it is I’ve had a lot of respect for the Clintons Group and what the Kordovolos family has done – they have really invested in our community and that is why I wanted to join them when they asked me to come along.

“Back when I was marketing manager with MG My Gateway, I used to think how Clintons were one of the biggest employers of young Macarthur kids through apprenticeships and the like.

“That’s a really great thing that they’re investing back into the community,’’ says Wisbey.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“When I was at Disability Macarthur as their marketing manager, Clintons used to do our fleet stuff and they also used to do a lot of donating – they always had this community thing going on as part of their operation.[/social_quote]

“So we’re talking about 25 years down the track since I first met them and now I am the group marketing manager for BMW, Lexus, Toyota, MG, all of these different brands.

“That’s not a bad gig.’’

Wisbey says the Gregory Hills headquarters will grow this Clintons tradition of being a big employer of local young people and a big supporter of community causes.

“For me that’s what it’s about, how Clintons are investing back into Macarthur, they are creating local jobs and they are backing good community organisations,’’ he says.

“And I love that as far as Clintons are concerned it’s just about Macarthur – we’re not interested in anywhere else, Macarthur is our home, it’s where all of our marketing and everything else we do is going to be concentrating on,’’ Wisbey says.

“I’ve enjoyed meeting Barry Clinton and over the years Mario Kordovolos and now working with Kurt as he takes on the leadership role, people like that and the pride they had in the group.

“And here we are all these years later, and Clintons are still driving Macarthur’s future and I’m proud to be part of that!’’