CarMax, the country’s largest used-car retailer is expanding to Long Island. The company has identified two locations for its first foray into the area.
One will be in Smithtown, at the former site of a concrete plant on Route 25. The vacant site is considered a blight. That particular area in Smithtown is known for the string of car dealerships that line the roadway.
The second location will be in the Town of Hempstead in East Meadow on the site of a vacant Home Depot. In documents on the Town of Hempstead website from a March 3 meeting, the location is described as a one-story 10,480 square foot used car dealership, which includes a 4,994 square foot sales area, a 4,302 square foot service area, and a 1,184 square foot presentation area. There will also be a detached one-story 923 square foot car wash building and a 32,970 square foot outdoor staging area for vehicle inventory.
CarMax has more than 200 stores nationwide, and during the latest fiscal year sold nearly 750,000 used cars and 450,000 wholesale vehicles at its in-store auctions.
The company confirmed both projects in an email to LongIsland.com recently.
“We are pleased to confirm that CarMax has identified the Hempstead and Smithtown areas as a good fit for our current growth plan, and we are excited to provide new customers there with our simple and stress-free used car shopping experience.”
There is no timeline for development yet and the company said it can take two or three years “to get all necessary approvals, complete construction, and open for business once we decide to move forward on any location…”
CarMax will announce the new store openings approximately one year in advance of the anticipated grand opening date. As a publicly traded company, dates for new store openings are announced during its quarterly earnings calls.
