One of Richmond’s iconic, automobile-dealers will shortly be shifting out of “park” and “driving” off into the sunset.
The building that housed Dennison Chevrolet, a name that has been around since 1968, will be facing the wrecking ball at the Richmond Automall in the coming weeks.
But this Saturday, a local animal welfare group that has been caring for the population of abandoned rabbits, and their offspring, at the automall, will be holding a garage sale at the former car dealer’s site. That’s where Rabbitats was able to set up shop, in Dennison’s old vehicle service centre, for the past few years.
Automall general manager Gail Terry said Ray Dennison, owner of Dennison Chevrolet, was one of the “founding fathers” of the automall, which opened on Oct. 24, 1985.
Terry said that the majority of local car dealers were dotted along No. 3 Road, north of Westminster Hwy., including Dennison Chevrolet, which was located approximately where the Ackroyd Road White Spot restaurant is today.
It was Dennison, who, on a trip to his recreation home in California in the early 1980s, discovered the automall concept in the city of Carlsbad and decided it would be a good fit for Richmond, Terry said.
“Following his return, Dennison gathered together the majority of local auto dealers and sold them on the concept, which was a hard thing since the nature of their business was based on fierce competition,” Terry said.
“Some still decided to stay along the Minoru Blvd. area, but most made the move.”
Dennison joined forces with Bill Hanbury, owner of Richport Ford Lincoln Mercury, and Gary Cowell of the Cowell Auto Group, to develop the automall site and foster an environment where the dealers contributed to a shared marketing and promotions budget.
Terry said that while the removal of the Dennison Chevrolet dealership building is a bittersweet moment in local business history — Open Road Toyota is re-developing the site — it also points to a charitable contribution the automall made during the time the site was empty and awaiting a new tenant.
The Rabbitats group operated out of a part of the facility from 2011 to 2014, gathering abandoned bunnies that had populated the automall.
Sorelle Saidman, who heads up Rabbitats, said the automall’s generosity helped make a huge difference in helping re-home rabbits at sanctuaries where they can live out their lives.
To date, Rabbitats, which now runs out of a new location just up the street from Dennison Chevrolet’s old site, has managed to care for around 300 of the fuzzy little creatures.
On Saturday, Rabbitats’ garage sale at 13100 Smallwood Place runs from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
