A spa with a service bay

It's easy to mistake the amenities at Big Two Toyota in Chandler, Ariz., for those at a high-end resort and spa.

Cafe 1250 serves triple-chocolate brownies, chef salads and roast beef sandwiches -- made fresh daily -- near where new Camrys and Tundras glisten under showroom lights. Not far away is a 700-square-foot pirate ship play area, arcade and video game room for children.

The dealership also owns and staffs a barbershop and nail and massage salons a short walk from its on-site service center. A 15-minute chair massage while customers' tires are rotated costs $15. A French manicure costs $20.

The showroom also includes a business center with telephones, free Wi-Fi and a shuttle to a nearby shopping center.

The amenities have been offered since Big Two opened in Chandler in 2007, and are meant to make customers feel more comfortable in a usually high-stress environment.

"We're not naive. We understand most people probably don't want to come to a car dealership," Brett Henkel, assistant general manager who has worked at Big Two for 18 years, told Automotive News. "Most people feel it's a pain and not something they enjoy doing. We thought we could make that a lot less painful for a lot of people.

"If you have to be there, at least you can enjoy that time and accomplish something."

Henkel said the dealership relies on its amenities not to generate profits, but to help attract and retain customers. 

About half of Big Two's lunches, haircuts, manicures and massages are provided free to longtime customers or to others who experience delays or lengthy waits while their vehicles are serviced. 

Some people return even though their vehicles don't need service, Henkel said. 

One customer, for instance, brought a group of her out-of-town girlfriends and spent the day at the dealership without ever discussing car sales or service requests. 

"It is a differentiator in the market," Henkel said. "When we built the store we really wanted it to have a different feel." 

The dealership hired a guest services director from a local resort to handle daily nonautomotive operations, and it staffs a team of 10 among the barbershop and salons. 

The amenities have had an impact on business. 

Typically, Henkel said, service department traffic peaked on weekday mornings as customers hurried to get their vehicles in before work. Now, he says business is consistent throughout the day because customers often wait there and use the time to work remotely or pamper themselves.

Henkel said Big Two consistently ranks among the top three Toyota dealerships in its five-state region in monthly service volume. The service department handles about 6,000 orders each month. 

Big Two also is among the top 60 Toyota dealerships nationwide in terms of sales volume, Henkel said. Last year, the store sold 3,964 new and 1,355 used vehicles, he said. 

Before Big Two's 125,000-square-foot site opened in 2007, it was in a smaller showroom in Mesa, Ariz. -- and never among the top dealerships in either category, Henkel said.

The amenities "have had a huge impact in how we've been able to grow the store," he said. "It cuts down a lot of that dead time that people hate about going to car dealerships."