Cornered: Paul Blanco
From January 2007
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Paul Blanco
Paul Blanco had a problem. He bought a Chevrolet dealership on Florin Road in South Sacramento about five years ago, but his timing wasn’t great. So what do you do with a giant football field of a place when car sales slow down and the web steals much of your business?
Use your advantage — land — and marry it to one of the internet’s great success stories — Ebay — to create a new business. An upscale open-air flea market catering to the hispanic community. It has been a hit. Blanco’s weekend car sales have tripled and the mercado is humming. “It has been huge,” Blanco says. “We’re getting 4,000 to 5,000 people a weekend. Before opening the market, we used to get 20.”
The Florin Road corridor has been losing customers and dealerships to the Elk Grove Auto Mall since it opened in the late 1990s, in part because of pressure from auto manufacturers who saw that customers nationwide preferred auto malls.
The corridor has dropped from 13 dealerships to about six now, according to the Florin Road Partnership, a consortium of area businesses; Blanco says at least two more dealers are considering leaving. And the local retail market is facing similar declines with the closing of the Florin Mall in 2006.
So Blanco was faced with a shrinking customer base and a general economic malaise in the corridor. Something had to be done or his dealership, too, would have to close.
His solution: the Sacramento Fresh Air Mall. This fall, Blanco opened a massive weekend-only open-air market on the back of his 16-acre Capitol City Chevrolet property at the corner of Florin and Franklin Boulevard.
His vision: an outdoor marketplace that is far nicer and more appealing than your average flea market. Some 600 vendors include everything from fresh produce sellers to fortune tellers to mortgage brokers, from handcrafted jewelry and glassware to jellies and jams from Napa Valley. It also hosts live entertainment, estate auctions and an extensive food court.
“What we are doing is creating a regional draw to South Sacramento,” Blanco says. “Thousands of people will come to South Sacramento. It will benefit every one of the businesses surrounding the mall. It will help all the car dealerships. No other auto mall around will have the draw this place does.”
Spillover Effect
For Blanco, 45, the project is not so much about getting into the mall business as it is about boosting car sales.
That’s why every Friday night, Blanco and his staff go to the trouble to move some 400 cars on his front lot to create parking for Fresh Air Mall customers, and then move them right back every Sunday night.
The cars are moved to an area adjoining the mall itself, so that after mall customers finish browsing through the crafts, they can check out the new Chevies, which feature no-haggle pricing. Blanco hopes that can save his business. If not, he is likely to close.
His dealership, built in 1965, was one of the first in the region. It sits on about 16 acres of land, about five times the space of an average dealership. So Blanco has a massive amount of space on his property that has been sitting unused for decades. Most of it is landlocked and virtually useless — the only access goes straight through his service department.
To put the project together, Blanco says he had to spend about $1 million for traffic improvements on Florin required by the city, engineering, tents and other items. He has invited local students to paint murals on the service buildings surrounding the market and plans to host a local talent show.
The mall charges a $1 admission fee. Half the fee goes to the new Blanco Family Community Foundation which funds school projects in collaboration with the Sacramento City Unified School District.
Optimism, With Guards
The Florin Road Partnership endorsed Blanco’s vision earlier this year, but also expressed some concerns. The other businesses hope the Fresh Air Mall won’t attract the wrong element, like gangs and people peddling gaudy or stolen merchandise. “A lot depends on how it’s done,’’ says Larry Carr, executive director of the Florin Road Partnership. “On the one hand, you could have arts and crafts, unique one-of-a-kind items that draw a lot of people not only from the immediate area, but from a long way away.
“On the other end of the continuum, it could be someone selling hubcaps on the ground, or stolen lawnmowers. It’s all in the way it’s done.”
Blanco says it is his intent to have higher-quality merchandise. If the mall is successful, he has considered the possibility of expanding further into the retail business. He is already looking at adding some permanent seven-day-a-week retail space on his lot, perhaps a restaurant and a few unique shops.
But if the car business doesn’t pick up enough, Blanco says he would ultimately consider putting a market there seven days a week and moving the dealership. “I’m trying to survive,’’ Blanco says. “The dealerships have all left. People don’t come here to shop. Even though I could have the best prices, they want to go to the auto malls. So we’ve built our own mall.’’
“We could leave and just leave the property vacant, because we’re losing so much money by being here. This will generate enough money to save the car dealership.’’
A Fresh Air Mall Grows on Florin
By Harrison SheppardPaul Blanco had a problem. He bought a Chevrolet dealership on Florin Road in South Sacramento about five years ago, but his timing wasn’t great. So what do you do with a giant football field of a place when car sales slow down and the web steals much of your business?
Use your advantage — land — and marry it to one of the internet’s great success stories — Ebay — to create a new business. An upscale open-air flea market catering to the hispanic community. It has been a hit. Blanco’s weekend car sales have tripled and the mercado is humming. “It has been huge,” Blanco says. “We’re getting 4,000 to 5,000 people a weekend. Before opening the market, we used to get 20.”
The Florin Road corridor has been losing customers and dealerships to the Elk Grove Auto Mall since it opened in the late 1990s, in part because of pressure from auto manufacturers who saw that customers nationwide preferred auto malls.
The corridor has dropped from 13 dealerships to about six now, according to the Florin Road Partnership, a consortium of area businesses; Blanco says at least two more dealers are considering leaving. And the local retail market is facing similar declines with the closing of the Florin Mall in 2006.
So Blanco was faced with a shrinking customer base and a general economic malaise in the corridor. Something had to be done or his dealership, too, would have to close.
His solution: the Sacramento Fresh Air Mall. This fall, Blanco opened a massive weekend-only open-air market on the back of his 16-acre Capitol City Chevrolet property at the corner of Florin and Franklin Boulevard.
His vision: an outdoor marketplace that is far nicer and more appealing than your average flea market. Some 600 vendors include everything from fresh produce sellers to fortune tellers to mortgage brokers, from handcrafted jewelry and glassware to jellies and jams from Napa Valley. It also hosts live entertainment, estate auctions and an extensive food court.
“What we are doing is creating a regional draw to South Sacramento,” Blanco says. “Thousands of people will come to South Sacramento. It will benefit every one of the businesses surrounding the mall. It will help all the car dealerships. No other auto mall around will have the draw this place does.”
Spillover Effect
For Blanco, 45, the project is not so much about getting into the mall business as it is about boosting car sales.
That’s why every Friday night, Blanco and his staff go to the trouble to move some 400 cars on his front lot to create parking for Fresh Air Mall customers, and then move them right back every Sunday night.
The cars are moved to an area adjoining the mall itself, so that after mall customers finish browsing through the crafts, they can check out the new Chevies, which feature no-haggle pricing. Blanco hopes that can save his business. If not, he is likely to close.
His dealership, built in 1965, was one of the first in the region. It sits on about 16 acres of land, about five times the space of an average dealership. So Blanco has a massive amount of space on his property that has been sitting unused for decades. Most of it is landlocked and virtually useless — the only access goes straight through his service department.
To put the project together, Blanco says he had to spend about $1 million for traffic improvements on Florin required by the city, engineering, tents and other items. He has invited local students to paint murals on the service buildings surrounding the market and plans to host a local talent show.
The mall charges a $1 admission fee. Half the fee goes to the new Blanco Family Community Foundation which funds school projects in collaboration with the Sacramento City Unified School District.
Optimism, With Guards
The Florin Road Partnership endorsed Blanco’s vision earlier this year, but also expressed some concerns. The other businesses hope the Fresh Air Mall won’t attract the wrong element, like gangs and people peddling gaudy or stolen merchandise. “A lot depends on how it’s done,’’ says Larry Carr, executive director of the Florin Road Partnership. “On the one hand, you could have arts and crafts, unique one-of-a-kind items that draw a lot of people not only from the immediate area, but from a long way away.
“On the other end of the continuum, it could be someone selling hubcaps on the ground, or stolen lawnmowers. It’s all in the way it’s done.”
Blanco says it is his intent to have higher-quality merchandise. If the mall is successful, he has considered the possibility of expanding further into the retail business. He is already looking at adding some permanent seven-day-a-week retail space on his lot, perhaps a restaurant and a few unique shops.
But if the car business doesn’t pick up enough, Blanco says he would ultimately consider putting a market there seven days a week and moving the dealership. “I’m trying to survive,’’ Blanco says. “The dealerships have all left. People don’t come here to shop. Even though I could have the best prices, they want to go to the auto malls. So we’ve built our own mall.’’
“We could leave and just leave the property vacant, because we’re losing so much money by being here. This will generate enough money to save the car dealership.’’
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