Naples Motorsports has acquired Rooms To Go’s former showroom on U.S. 41 in Naples, a move that will triple the size of the luxury and exotic car dealership.
In 2008, Naples Motorsports poured the slab for its existing location on Airport-Pulling Road. On the same day 16 years later, its new 2.6-acre home was purchased at 3520 Tamiami Trail N. on the southeast corner of U.S. 41 and Ohio Drive. The 29,720-square-foot showroom there was recently vacated by Rooms To Go, which relocated last month about half a mile north to an expansive new store.
Rooms To Go had purchased its previous property—formerly the site of Hodges Funeral Home—for $5.5 million in March 2007, Collier County property records show. The current sale price has not been revealed yet.
Rosenthal was under contract with Rooms To Go for a year but the furniture retailer couldn’t close until its new showroom was ready. “It worked out in my favor,” Rosenthal said, noting that he wasn’t ready then either.
Naples Motorsports, which will mark its 25th anniversary next year, is known for selling the finest selection of new and pre-owned exotic and luxury vehicles. The core business of the local dealership has always been pre-owned exotics such as Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, McLaren, Bentley, Aston Martin and even the 1965 replica Shelby Cobra classic, said Todd Rosenthal, founder and owner of Naples Motorsports.
“We are very different than most car dealerships,” Rosenthal said. “A normal car dealership has three or four cars inside the showroom and the rest is kept outside. I want everything inside.”
Rosenthal already had expansion plans in 2020 for a second dealership location a short distance away from its existing location at 1250 Airport-Pulling Road S., but construction issues have delayed plans there. “When the Rooms to Go thing came up, I said I can’t pass that up. I think the location is absolutely amazing,” he said.
Ironically, Rosenthal also was attracted to the Rooms To Go’s original Naples location, which is a La-Z-Boy store today. He’s glad he waited because even the store he recently bought is not quite big enough.
“It’s a pretty big building, it really is. It’s a good size but not big enough for us, which is crazy, so I’m still looking to buy more property,” he said. “We need more indoor storage.”
Rosenthal thinks he has had a good location for his dealership, but the new purchase gives him an unbelievable location, he said. The new showroom on U.S. 41 will increase visibility for some of Naples Motorsports’ newer brands.
“We’re going to move more ultra-luxury and exotic cars there,” he said. “I think it will really help us in our growth. We’ll have service at both locations. We’ll be able to just expand the business more and a bigger price range, too.”
Naples Motorsports is still in its design concept stage now so plans for permits have not been proposed or filed yet for the new showroom, which is targeted to open at the end of 2025.
