The largest retailer of automobiles in the country is planning to expand its presence in southern Arizona.
With headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, the company CarMax wants to build both a new store location as well as a production facility in the metro Phoenix area.
Plans are centering on El Mirage, some 18 miles to the northeast of Phoenix, where the company earlier this month purchased around 56 acres to be used for construction of a nearly 83,000 square foot automotive wholesale auction and production center.
The site is located at the intersection of Olive Avenue and Dysart Road, and will add to a regional CarMax presence that includes stores in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tolleson, and Tucson.
Founded in 1993, CarMax currently has around 300 locations nationally, in outlets that typically measure around 59,000 square feet. Each of its locations usually has an ongoing inventory of anywhere from 300 to 400 vehicles.
The Arizona expansion plans come in the wake of a last quarter 2022 report that showed the company’s sales were off by 28% from the same time period a year earlier. Despite that decline, an earnings statement released by CarMax in December indicated that the company had purchased around 224,000 vehicles in the third quarter of 2022.
By Garry Boulard
