The owner of three of the Flathead Valley’s biggest car dealerships opened a new facility in Evergreen last week as the concluding move in major reorganization of his businesses.

Gerrid Gandrud, who owns the new Ford dealership on the north end of Kalispell and the Toyota dealership on the south end of town, just opened a new Volkswagen dealership after extensive remodeling was completed and relocated the Volkswagen inventory from Whitefish to the new Evergreen facility, formerly the site of Kalispell Ford.

In addition to vehicle sales, Kalispell Volkswagen also features a detailing shop and used-vehicle reconditioning garage that used to be off-site. About 40 employees will be employed at Kalispell Volkswagen.

Gandrud said auto manufacturers like to have different facilities selling their vehicles rather than selling them alongside vehicles from other manufacturers, so the past situation with Ford and Volkswagen vehicles being sold on the same lot in Whitefish was not ideal from that standpoint.

The new changes allow them to ensure that one brand doesn’t overshadow another. Gandrud said his hope is that the brand separation could lead to an increase in VW sales of about 30 percent. The lot is designed to hold about 50 new vehicles and another 45 to 50 used vehicles.

Every feature in the facility is well-calculated, with site plans and architectural renderings the result of near-constant consultation between Gandrud’s team and Volkswagen. Opening a local business with such a close association with a major corporation means the dealership has to adhere to lots of strict rules about how things look.

The flooring, modern-looking leather furniture and signs inside and outside the building are all quite similar to those found in other Volkswagen dealerships across the country. Gandrud said they got some relief from those restrictions because they were repurposing an existing building rather than building a completely new one, but they still had to work very closely with the manufacturer on the design.

The Evergreen site offers a central location, Gandrud said. Putting the Volkswagen dealership in Evergreen meant it is a relatively short drive from any community throughout the Flathead. It is also close to the other dealerships Gandrud owns in Kalispell. The new Volkswagen facility also does the used-vehicle reconditioning for the Toyota dealership in south Kalispell, and Gandrud said proximity to that was appealing. He also already owned the building.

Gandrud said his lease ended at the old building his dealership used to occupy in Whitefish (the former DePratu Ford building) and the owners have put it up for sale.

He hopes the new facility will serve the company’s uses well for at least the next 20 years.

Reporter Peregrine Frissell can be reached at (406) 758-4438 or pfrissell@dailyinterlake.com.