If you build it, they will come.
It’s been three years since Alex Baum and company parted ways with Cochrane Dodge and opened up shop up the hill in the community of River Heights, along Highway 22.
Judging by the rapid sale of Tacomas, RAV4s and the like, it was a good move for Cochrane's favourite dealership.
“A big thank you to our local community,” said sales manager, Ryan Baum, upon learning that Cochrane Toyota was voted ‘best dealership’ in the Cochrane Eagle ‘Best Of Cochrane’ contest.
“Without them, this never would have happened. We make sure customer service is No. 1 and obviously the community sees that.”
Ryan said the honour came to them as a surprise, especially considering Cochrane Toyota is the newest dealership in town.
“We’ve been very lucky. A new store normally takes a long time, but 17 years at Dodge really parlayed into opening up this store…obviously Alex has put a lot of time into the community and has always believed that’s how you do business — by giving back to the community.”
Ryan added that another plus for Cochrane Toyota is having such a local team. The vast majority of the dealership’s staff of more than 40 people lives in or nearby Cochrane — making charitable initiatives and team projects much easier to undertake.
Be it dealership-wide or local, Cochrane Toyota is always involved in one charitable event or another.
Last year, Alex was one of the forerunners in the ‘Ton of Pennies’ initiative — the mass penny drive that raised more than $5,000 for international children’s charity, Right to Play.
Tipping the scales at 2,897 pounds, the event culminated in a weigh-in ceremony in front of Cochrane ATB Financial, attended by prominent Cochrane community leaders, as well as Banff-Canmore MLA, Ron Casey, and MP Blake Richards.
Ryan said Cochrane Toyota supports a wide range of charities and community programs, including the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park, Ducks Unlimited and Cochrane high schools, among others.
“We do our best to serve all of our students from Grade 9 and up throughout the year,” said Ryan.
With a steady growth in their sales department, Cochranites shouldn’t be surprised to take notice of a few extra Toyota trucks around town, as this past January saw Cochrane Toyota rebrand themselves as ‘Tacoma Town’.
“As a small truck, there’s really nothing that compares to it,” he said, adding that the line-up of 2013 RAV4s have been really popular this season and he anticipates the same with the upcoming line of 2014 Toyota Tundras.
Cochrane Toyota is located at 8 River Heights Drive.
