NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — J.D. Byrider announced late last week that it is opening a new dealership, the company’s first in Arkansas.

The new 25,000-square-foot store is located in Sherwood, Ark., and offers on-site financing, used-car sales, a service department and a customer service center.

The Sherwood location is the third dealership for co-owners Mark Bedgood and Bill Evans. The pair also owns stores in Longview, Texas, and Tyler, Texas.

“We expect Arkansas to be a great market for business,” said Bedgood. “We’re excited to offer a new, used car option to Little Rock-area residents.”
 
The co-owners have tapped business partner Matt Enderlin to operate the new dealership.

“I’m excited about bringing the J.D. Byrider concept to the people of Sherwood. We understand they have many choices when it comes to buying a used car, and J.D. Byrider is the largest in the buy-here, pay-here category; offering better cars, affordable payments and superior car care,” Enderlin said.

“Before a car is sold, it’s given a comprehensive inspection and backed by a clean title and a 24-month, 24,000-mile warranty. Our service department is staffed by skilled technicians and offers the lowest pricing in the neighborhood on parts and labor. Our goal is to keep our customers on the road,” he added.

The new location at 6055 Landers Road is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The service department is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“The customer satisfaction numbers in our Texas locations are even higher than the J.D. Byrider national averages of 95 percent in sales and 91 percent in service,” said Evans.

“We’ve challenged Matt to exceed those numbers, and he seems up for it. We intend to exceed our customers’ expectations in the Little Rock area,” he concluded.

On top of the new Sherwood dealership, the company opened locations in Wood River, Ill., Dundalk, Md., and Morgantow, W.V., earlier this year, bringing its total number of stores to 128 locations in 30 states. It also plans to open additional dealerships later this year, the company noted.

Thanking the Knoxville Community

In other company news, J.D. Byrider recently contributed to a local nonprofit to thank the Knoxville, Tenn., community for its assistance after a May 7 dealership fire.

Though no one was hurt and the building was salvageable, the May fire caused significant damage to the J.D Byrider dealership located at 8413 Kingston Pike in Knoxville.

To thank the community for their assistance during and after the fire, the Knoxville franchise owner Vince Keller donated $1,000 to local charitable organization FISH Hospitality Pantries, and the company's corporate office is matching the gift.

The volunteer organization provides food packages to needy families in Knoxville, as well as in Claiborne County and Knox County.

“The local community has been extremely helpful during the past month as we have worked to get back in business,” said Keller.

“Donating to such a worthy organization is the least we could do to thank Knoxville and area fire personnel for the work they put into saving our store,” he added.

Agreeing with Keller, J.D. Byrider chief executive officer Steve Wedding also expressed his gratitude, “We are grateful no one was seriously injured during the fire and a portion of the dealership was saved.”

“Knoxville has been a great community for business, and we are proud to give a donation to FISH Hospitality Pantries to thank the community for their assistance,” Wedding concluded.