Lila Plake
August 13, 2007
Saints work on special teams errors
August 15, 2007
Longtime Tri-parish car dealers Greg and Geri LeBlanc recently expanded their operations in Houma on June 1 by buying the former Houma Toyota at 220 S. Hollywood Road.
The husband-and-wife team also owns Greg LeBlanc Nissan (1772 Martin Luther King Blvd. in Houma), Geri LeBlanc Pontiac Buick GMC (644 W. Main St. in Thibodaux), and Hyundai of Houma (temporarily located at 660 W. Main St. in Thibodaux).
But the couple is cutting back on showing Polly – the loveable, ubiquitous parrot who livens up television ads for the car dealerships, and whose endearing image appears next to the Greg and Geri LeBlanc names on hundreds of cars in the Tri-parish area.
The LeBlancs say they are, reluctantly, relegating Polly from star to supporting cast in favor of promoting their cars using the more common “Red Tag Dealer” slogan.
“‘Red Tag Dealer’ started with customers saying they want a fair deal,” Greg LeBlanc said. The slogan signifies that “people will get a good price,” he said. “Customers can send their friends.”
Polly is actually played by two parrots. The birds, whose sexes are not known, are around 13 years old. One of them will reside at the new Greg LeBlanc Toyota store.
“Polly’s still a big part of us,” Geri LeBlanc said. “She’s still our image, our logo. She represents who we are, but we’re venturing. It gets boring doing the same thing over and over.”
Animal pitchmen aside, with his new acquisition, Greg LeBlanc now is the only car dealer in the Tri-parishes who sells Toyotas, Nissans, and Hyundais.
LeBlanc purchased Houma Toyota from Vince Stassi, an acquaintance he had known since the time LeBlanc worked for his father, legendary Baton Rouge car-dealer Price LeBlanc.
“I’m always looking for opportunities,” he said. “I’d been reading good things about Toyota increasing its market share. It’s a quality product.”
LeBlanc sold Toyotas with his father before buying the Nissan dealership in Thibodaux in 1985. He later moved the Nissan lot to the Martin Luther King Boulevard location.
Selling Toyotas “is still the same system,” he said.
LeBlanc experienced a rough first month at his new store. Toyota, which recently became the largest carmaker in the world, usually has a shortage of vehicles available to distribute to dealers.
The Japanese automaker allotted LeBlanc more cars, though, because he is one of the company’s new dealers.
Also, Toyota shipped more vehicles to Houma because LeBlanc is now selling the company’s cars exclusively.
The former Houma Toyota had sold Chrysler Jeeps, but LeBlanc transferred that franchise to Southland Dodge Chrysler at 6161 W. Park Ave.
“Business has been good,” he said, but “we can only grow so fast.”
LeBlanc said many members of the former Houma Toyota sales staff did not stay to work for him.
“We’re doing business a little different,” he said. “We’re marketing and advertising more. Our point of sale is a little different.”
Customers do not pay the full list price for his cars.
“If salesmen can make a higher profit, they get a bigger commission,” he said. “They didn’t like the lower pricing.”
One Houma Toyota manager left, but three stayed to work for LeBlanc.
The dealership currently has a sales staff of 10, and is looking to hire five more.
LeBlanc said the Toyota sales lot, which is a bit off the beaten path across from Vandebilt High School on the two-lane Hollywood Road, is a good location.
Terrebonne Parish will enlarge Hollywood Road to four lanes within four years, he said.
Besides, “the Toyota brand carries clout,” he said. “A premium location in Houma is not that important. People know where it is.”
The cost to build a new lot on Martin Luther King Boulevard is prohibitive, he said. (The permanent location of LeBlanc’s Hyundai of Houma is next to the Greg LeBlanc Nissan store. A Toyota sales lot on Martin Luther King Boulevard would mean all three of LeBlanc’s Houma dealerships would be crowded onto the busy thoroughfare.)
LeBlanc’s father was a cattleman before he opened an AMC Rambler outlet in 1958 in St. Gabriel, La.
“I grew up next to a car dealership,” he said. “As a four-year-old, I was walking around it.”
Price LeBlanc today owns the Toyota Lexus dealership in Baton Rouge.
Geri LeBlanc says that her family tries to keep the car-selling process very personal and laid back.
Her two sons are selling Toyotas at the new store.
“We’re family-oriented,” she said. “We try to have fun. There are video-game systems for kids at all our stores, except at the Hyundai one. You’ll usually see popcorn on the floor.”
And kids can see Polly at the Toyota outlet.
“God has been good to us,” she said. “I give God the glory.”
