New River Auto Mall

The New River Auto Mall is a group of seven dealerships in Hardeeville, S.C. Established in 2002, it all began with a Letter of Intent from Infiniti, which granted Don Mealey the Infiniti franchise, provided he found suitable land. Mr. Mealey had spent his career as the owner of several car dealerships in Orlando, Fla., and was looking for a new opportunity. Mr. Mealey spent more than a year scouting sites to locate the Infiniti brand. Along the way, he purchased the Nissan dealership in Beaufort and relocated the franchise to the Hilton Head area. With two franchises "in hand," Mr. Mealey began to look for larger parcels of land, and met the owners of much of the land along Highway 278, including the land where Super Wal-Mart is now located. He purchased land for Infiniti and Nissan, and opened both during the last quarter of 2002. Mr. Mealey and his investors were awarded the Mazda franchise in 2003, and built the facility to its corporate design for opening in 2004. Following suit, Porsche had its official opening in first quarter of 2005. Other dealers became interested in the Mall, and land was sold to the Jaguar Dealer from Charleston for the Jaguar Dealership (which 18 months later was purchased by Mr. Mealey), and to another dealer for the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Hyundai dealerships in 2003 (which Mr. Mealey bought in August 2006). Land Rover Hilton Head Savannah was purchased in April of 2007, and integrated into the Auto Mall in January of 2008, merging with the existing Jaguar dealership. During the period of development, Mr. Mealey negotiated for the purchase of the remaining land in the immediate vicinity, and now controls all 42 acres. There is space for two or three more franchises, depending on volume potential. The ownership of all land, buildings and business is shared by Don Mealey, Warner Peacock, Ken Griffey, Jr., and/or affiliated entities.