Dealership plans to open here in early 2021

Last year on April 22, Courtesy Auto & Truck Sales out of Thorp came under new ownership. Now bursting at the seams, there just isn’t enough room at their current 13,000 square foot location to conduct business with the number of sales they’ve been doing. As such, they started to look for a new property and found one, in the 35,000 square foot former Shopko store located along Highway 29 in Stanley’s East Business Park. With conversion planning for the site to start in the next few months, the old Shopko will hopefully be converted to a Ford dealership come January 2021. The Plan Commission was eager to help Courtesy come to the East Business Park, as was made evident by their relatively quick action to approve.

“I make a motion that we approve the site plan,” Plan Commission member Dave Jankoski said after hearing Courtesy’s President Scott Eisold talk about the firm and its plans for the Shopko site, along with a representative named Dave Stubbs from a company called Keller that will be converting the retail space to a car dealership.

Prior to getting a second on the motion to approve site plans, though, Commission member Larry Norrell asked Eisold if there was anything they would be doing at the 35,000 square-foot Shopko location different than the current one. Eisold said no, but that there was room for growth in service with the expanded building, and that the body shop was coming with. Previously the local car dealer had been thinking not to bring this aspect of the old site along, but then changed its mind—and the space underneath the roof is going to be packed.

Revealed in the present floor and site plans on file are space for a showroom, car shop, large truck shop, a ‘service drive,’ and twelve mechanic work stalls equipped with car lifts of a 10,000 limit, along with five flat stalls for custom mechanic attention. Each stall is approximately fourteen feet six inches. As proposed on the plans, Courtesy would also seek to make two small additions to the building itself, increasing the square footage from its present 35,000 square feet, and would pour new concrete on the south, west, north, and east sides, though without wrapping the entire building. Courtesy Auto would also evdeavor to add new parking sections in the future. Lastly, Courtesy would convert the existing sign near Junction Avenue at the Shopko property to a reader board and put a new relocated Ford sign on the opposite end of the property located along Highway 29.

With a later second by Commission member Rick Denzine to second Jankoski’s earlier motion, the Plan Commission approved the site plan for the coming new Ford dealership, off of Highway X on Junction Avenue.