Foothills Lincoln Mazda acquired by Post Falls dealership

Foothills Lincoln Mazda has been purchased by Eve Knudtsen, president and owner of Knudtsen Chevrolet in Post Falls.

Rick Rielly and Ray Kish, previous owners of the Mazda dealership at 202 E. North Foothills Drive, closed the sale on Feb. 15.

“Our family is very much involved in community initiatives, and we are happy to build on the legacy that Rick and Ray have established,” Knudtsen said.

The Spokane dealership has been rebranded as Knudtsen Foothills Mazda and Knudtsen Foothills Lincoln.

Foothills Lincoln Mazda was founded in 1981 by Kish, a graduate of Rutgers University and Stanford University. Rielly joined Kish approximately 10 years later as general manager, and eventually purchased a majority stake in the dealership.

Looking toward retirement, the two wanted a successor who shared their business philosophy and values.

“For the last 10 years we have had multiple offers from dealers looking to purchase our stores and none of them felt right,” Kish said in a news release.

Rielly and Kish have worked with over 40 organizations, including on the creation of the Special Olympics program in Washington, founding of the Crisis Center in Spokane and founding of the Ronald McDonald House in Spokane, according to the release.

Knudtsen runs a business founded by her father, Clifford Knudtsen, in 1939. The family-owned Chevrolet dealership has served Kootenai County for over 85 years.

“We are proud to have chosen the Knudtsen family to be our successors,” Kish said. “It’s keeping with the family dynamic and values that a family-owned business understands.”

The Foothills building was a lumber yard before being renovated into a dealership. As a result, Foothills Lincoln Mazda occupies a large footprint spanning 82,000 square-feet and is situated on almost 7 acres of land.

Knudtsen will add her family name to the store brands and will be keeping all existing Foothills team members at their current seniority, she said to The Spokesman-Review.

The new owner spends three days every week at her Spokane dealership to meet what she considers her new family, she said.

“I’m just trying to get to know everybody and our customers,” she said. “It’s a really good operation.”

The company employs about 60 at the location, and Knudtsen expects this number to increase.

“We anticipate to grow to 70,” she said. “We will work to expand our business development operations immediately, for example.”

That will included quick service technicians to perform tasks like oil changes and tire replacements.

As chair of the General Motors Women Dealer Advisory Council, she said she is committed to offer opportunities for women in the automotive industry. This will include anything from technical positions to sales.

Knudtsen works with her business partner and daughter, Lauren Benedict.

“We are proud to be women-owned and -operated, and we work with a lot with women,” she said. “We are all about those opportunities.”

As for the future, Knudtsen said she motivated to grow her Spokane location.

“We have aggressive plans, and Mazda has plans for us,” she said.