‘Growing in the same direction’: North Spokane Mazda, Lincoln dealership opens under new leadership

In February, a deal was made to sell Foothills Lincoln Mazda. The buyer, Eve Knudtsen, is also the president and owner of Knudtsen Chevrolet in Post Falls.

On Thursday, Knudtsen officially opened the dealership’s doors in North Spokane.

“Can I have the Knudtsen family come up?” Knudtsen called out after speaking to a crowd of a few dozen at a ribbon-cutting event.

At a cost of $12.9 million, the Knudtsen family purchased and took over the Spokane operation at 202 E. North Foothills Drive.

Since opening Knudtsen Chevrolet in 1939 in Post Falls, the Knudstens have now expanded to a third location, including an auto body shop in Spokane Valley.

The North Foothills operation will include three separately named businesses operating as one: Knudtsen Foothills Mazda, Knudtsen Foothills Lincoln and Knudtsen-ABRA Auto Body – Foothills.

ABRA, a national auto body shop based in Charlotte, partners with the Knudtsen family at both of their other two locations.

“That’s what allows us to be part of a nationwide network of collision centers. So, you can actually take your vehicle to any other ABRA and they can still work with us,” Knudtsen said. “The other thing that we get, of course, is the best insurance partners and vendors to work with.”

Knudtsen purchased the business and property from Rick Rielly and Ray Kish. Fish founded the operation in 1981.

Looking toward retirement, the two wanted a successor who shared their business philosophy and values.

“For the last 10 years we have had multiple offers from dealers looking to purchase our stores and none of them felt right,” Kish said at the time of the sale. “We are proud to have chosen the Knudtsen family to be our successors and keep the family dynamic and values that a family-owned business understands.”

The family business was founded by the father of Eve Knudtsen, Clifford Knudtsen, with the help of his brother Wayne G. Knudtsen.

“I’m thankful for Rick and Ray every day for giving me the opportunity to take this over from them,” she said. “It would be bad of me not to recognize them as much as I can today.”

Knudtsen works with her business partner and daughter, Lauren Benedict.

And as chair of the General Motors Women Dealer Advisory Council, Knudtsen said she is committed to offer opportunities for women in the automotive industry. This includes everything from technical positions to sales.

“That’s something that we’re really proud of: to be women-owned and -operated,” she said. “I believe that people want to do business where they see people like themselves. So the welcome mat is out for women, and we’ve been successful with it in Post Falls where I have women on the service side as well as in the showroom.

“I’d like to be able to offer those same kind of opportunities over here.”

The Foothills building was a lumber yard before being renovated into a dealership. As a result, Foothills Lincoln Mazda occupies a large footprint spanning 82,000 square-feet and is situated on almost 7 acres of land.

Before changing ownership, the dealership employed about 60 people. At the time of the purchase, Knudtsen planned on keeping as many employees as possible.

Thursday, she reported to have retained 80% of previous workers.

“We anticipate to grow to 70 workers,” she said. “I don’t think we’re quite there yet. But we are definitely on our way.”

Though Thursday marked the dealership’s official grand opening under the Knudtsen name, operations never halted, she said.

“Doors never shut. We were fully operational, but behind the scenes, we were getting the team coalesced to make sure that everybody has the same vision and is growing in the same direction,” she said. “Now we’re at a place where we have really come together as a team.”