Auto buyers can now find Subaru in the Santa Clarita Valley again. After no Subaru presence for the past three years, according to the Hello Automotive Group, a new dealership opened its doors this week to fill the void.
Built from the ground up on the site where The Signal newspaper building once stood on Creekside Road in Valencia, the new Hello Subaru of Valencia dealership is unique for a number of reasons, Hello officials said. The auto group has been working to change the car buying experience, they added, by creating what they call a simple and smooth shopping and buying process.
“Hello Auto Group is excited to open a new location in Valencia/Santa Clarita,” said Karl Schmidt, Hello Auto president and Minneapolis native who, according to Hello officials, moved to California about three years ago after more than 30 years of experience in the auto industry out there. “As we grow in the Southern California region, we are confident our new dealerships will provide exceptional value and services to the surrounding community.”
Schmidt added that the Hello Auto Group’s “upfront business model and commitment to giving back to the community aligns with the Subaru brand and has received positive reception throughout California.”
With no-haggling incentives during the auto-buying process and features like videos the dealership sends customers of their vehicles in the service bay with technicians showing the work they’re doing, Hello officials said they hope to create a unique experience.
Hello Auto Group is also committed to giving back to the community, and $25 from every car sale and $1 from every repair order will go to a local philanthropic fund, according to a release from the company.
Additionally, Hello’s release states that they’re proud to employ a diverse workforce, bringing more than 70 jobs to the area.
Entering the auto-selling market in 2019, with Kia of Valencia being the company’s first local dealership, Hello has six locations in California, including Hello Mazda of Valencia, which is currently being renovated, and the new Hello Subaru at 24000 Creekside Road.
That location marks the spot where The Signal dedicated its then-new newspaper building on Sept. 8, 1986. Following the dedication event, Signal staff writer Sophi Buetens wrote that more than “1,000 people shared in the grand opening celebration of The Signal’s new headquarters Monday — ‘one of the brighter days in the newspaper’s history,’” those words from then Signal Publisher Tony Newhall describing the day he said had demonstrated the “revelry of the human spirit in the Santa Clarita Valley.”
The Signal moved out of the building 30 years later. The paper’s last day there was Oct. 7, 2016. The structure was then leveled to make way for the construction of the new auto dealership.
