The MINI Mecca: MINI Park Lane
Beyond the MINI plant in Oxford there aren’t many places for enthusiasts to go and pay homage to the brand. For BMW owners there’s BMW Welt, the BMW Museum, the ‘Ring and a number of manufacturing facilities around the world. For the MINI, there’s really only one public place beyond the plant that deserves mention, Park Lane MINI. The central London dealer is claimed to be the center-piece of all BMW owned MINI dealers and boasts two floors of everything MINI.
Recently I had a few hours to kill in London and decided to finally check off Park Lane from my list of MINI related to-dos.
Billed as the largest MINI dealer in the world, Park Lane is located in London on (you guessed it) Park Lane just east of Hyde Park. The neighborhood is posh and the dealer is surrounded by a company owned BMW car and motorcycle showroom on each side. Yet upon entering the store you’re struck by how small it all seems. Despite this I was greeted with an impressive display; two Clubman, a fully specced out JCW MINI (with all the dealer installed accessories – not the factory kit) and a new MCS with an updated version of an old “flip” color that MINI offered on the R50/R53 years ago – something we’ll have more on this new color option later in the week.
Park Lane MINI also had some of the best MINI bling I’ve ever seen. One of the more memorable was a display of all the R53/R52 JCW components attached the wall behind a new R52 JCW convertible.
Yet as a whole, I have to admit there was a bit of a let down when I realized how big the dealer really was. There weren’t more than eight cars on both levels and the accessories displayed were abysmal compared to the main MINI dealer in Munich for instance. Park Lane is certainly not the place to go for someone from North America searching for hard to find UK or European specific accessories.
While the staff was courteous there was little question they were there to close sales and didn’t really have the time or an inclination to chat about the products they were selling if you weren’t interested buying. In fact while taking pictures of the new flip-color MCS (I believe it’s officially called “Dream-line”) they had on display, I was sternly (albeit politely) told that no photography was allowed in the dealership and to please put my camera away.
Based on my experience and the relatively small space and lack of products or accessories on display, I’d not recommend going out of your way to make the trip to Park Lane. If you’re ever in the Hyde Park area with some time to kill it’s probably worth a stop. However as a car enthusiast, your time would be much better spent at a number of other London based attractions.
Gabe,
I agree with your comments about Mini Park Lane and the lack-of warm reception North American visitors receive. I was at MPL last June to see if I could purchase any Mini swag that might not be available in the US, but they did not have much available in-stock, nor was anyone keen on being of any assistance. It was as if I was bothering them when I was asking any questions about the showroom or the Minis on display.
It’s obvious that they are not used to the overwhelming enthusiasm the US Mini owners possess. I also agree that there is not much Mini inventory on display, because it’s such a cramped location, but I understand that they have a sister location where most of the new Minis are stored and prepped for delivery.
Thanks Gabe. They lost my business. Park Lane broke the cardinal rule of sales–“everyone is a customer, if not now maybe later.” The word of mouth is a very powerful advertising tool.
I think that really says it all about MINI dealerships in the UK, not just in London. Aside from a few – the salesmen aren’t enthusiastic about the brand and the customer normally knows more about the brand than they do. When we discussed MINI United with our dealership last year most of them had no idea what it was or when it was happening. Don’t even get me started on BMW servicing – expect your car to come back with dents or scratches and you won’t be disappointed.
Gabe: You couldn’t have missed that Park Lane also has Bentley and Aston Martin next door, not to mention Porsche, Audi, BMW and Lexus in the same facility and the classic Grosvenor (5-star) hotel is next door! The Park Lane dealership is a “Factory” owned store so they frown on pictures, I found the staff nice and very informative on my visit just after the R56 introduction last year. Westminster MINI is a lot more liberal with photos but is also very small compared to our US mega-dealerships. The London dealers don’t have spares or accessories on hand because of space limitations-real estate in London is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination! So MINI has set up their Battersea (south side of the Thames River) location as their service-parts depot. You can go there for anything you want but be prepared to pay dearly-the dollar is way down compared to the Pound and they don’t discount! London’s still a fun town- if you can afford it!
<blockquote>While the staff was courteous there was little question they were there to close sales and didn’t really have the time or an inclination to chat about the products they were selling if you weren’t interested buying.</blockquote>
Wow, how odd for a “car dealership” (tongue-in-cheek). I’ve experienced exactly the same treatemnt on multiple occasions from both the U.S. MINI Dealerships in my area.
I suppose MINI salespeople over there are like GM or Ford salespeople over here. Customer service, as a whole, isn’t quite up to the task of general courtesy or giving a flip. This, of course, does not apply only to car dealers.
I’ve heard that car salespeople in Europe tend to be less friendly and courteous overall than here in the US. I’d say that probably goes double for the average US MINI dealership.
Agree. Bin there once and was disappointed! Luckily it wasn’t the only thing to see in London otherwise my whole trip from the Netherlands to London would have been a disappointment. Still a place with history because of the Park Lane name.
Agreed, was there in Oct and was expecting to be wowed. Wasnt approached by anyone. Unfortunately I was in and out of the store pretty quickly. Actually spent more time next door at BMW talking about the 135. Sales person was actually nice enough to give me a brochure for the 135(Still cant find one at US Dealers) and a book (not a brochure) for BMW Individual Program.
Gabe,
You took the word out of my mouth – I have a friend who works in London, I asked her to see if she could find any accessories at MPL for my Cooper S before she came back home (to Canada) during a recent visit – and she said the same thing, she was quite surprised at how little they had in accessories, my dealership here in Vancouver has a much larger selection!
I thought the MINI dealership in Bangkok was the largest in the world? It’s like 5 floors high, but includes the service dept. as well as a restaurant.
No MINI Lounge trip yet to Spain yet? Or future Lounge sites?
<a href="https://www.motoringfile.com/2005/12/21/the-mini-lounge-in-madrid/" rel="ugc">https://www.motoringfile.com/2005/12/21/the-mini-lounge-in-madrid/</a>
I figured with your credentials they would have let you take some pictures?
That I mean some behind the store scene pictures.
No one’s going to mention that paint job?
Yea I think you’re right Krash – Bangkok took the title away from Park lane.
Is this a general trend in the MINI dealership community right now? I went into my local MINI dealership which won me over with its friendliness in 2002-2003 and sought some info on the Clubman recently. My presence wasn’t even <i>acknowledged</i> by the staff. I left after twenty minutes and no contact, not as much as a nod or smile from the girl at the desk.
Looks like the gloss is off…
Bob
My wife and I visited Park Lane while in London and had a very similar experience. The staff was not very friendly, and they didn’t seem to want to talk to us even though there were few (if any) other customers at the time. And I was scolded for taking pictures, too.
I agree with “AN” – – that paint job looks just beautiful! A couple of years ago, VW offered that kind of paint as an option on the New Beetle turbo.
My son lives in London so I am over there quite often. I have been to Park Lane on several occasions. They have maintained the British “stiff upper lip”, but have always given me the latest UK sales materials for automobiles and accesories. They even gave me two of everyting so I could give one to my home dealer when I returned to the states. The receptionist I delt with was quite friendly and we still exchange e-mails.
I have been to Park Lane twice in the past six months. My experience has been the same except the desk staff did smile and say hello. Nice dealership but it did not live up to the article in a british MINI mag I read a couple of years ago. I would like to visit other MINI places later this year.
How frustrating – it really seems like they’re missing a trick, and to dampen visitors enthusiasm by stopping photo’s is madness.
They’d do well to visit the Apple store in Regent Street to see how it should be done. Park Lane could really be something if they embraced the fun-factor that MINI is supposed to be all about – maybe they need to watch they’re own commercials!
I think this is just indicative of a problem that is often seen among businesses in general, especially car companies. Rather than feeding the enthusiasm people have toward their products, many companies fail to create a sufficient “customer experience.” Park Lane could have an entire inventory of MINI swag out for sale, and have displays, videos, interactive exhibits, etc, to really engage people that walk in. While MINI does much better than most companies, I have found that some of its dealerships still lag behind in this respect. Good service, PR, and catering to the core base customers can go a long way in keeping people excited about the brand.
I think that it’s adjacent to Hyde Park, not Regent, and when we visited on 9/11 (yes, that 9/11), we were welcomed and even took a test drive of a Cooper in Hyde Park. Just three Americans on the way to Goodwood for the revival… we had such a great day until that fateful afternoon.
I recently took a quick tour of a MINI dealer in Edinburgh, and was welcomed there too. I bet I could have bargained a test drive there as well, but we only had a day in town and Edinburgh is a wonderful place to visit. It sure is fun to visit dealerships, either here or around the world. Perhaps it’s just me?
I had the same experience you all seem to have had. Was in London in January and went out of my way to see the place. Was a bit dissapointed. Did get to see the MINI challenge car, though as well as the Clubman before it had been released at home (Australia). Got the ‘please don’t take photos’ as well.
The MA was politely dismissive and wasn’t interested in speaking much about the product once he realsed we weren’t there to buy a car.
Most annoying of all, I tried to buy some accessories from the front desk. The three items I asked about were all out of stock. I asked if I could buy the display items to which they replied ‘no, we have to display those’. Hahaha….well….why display them if you have none to sell??
Yeah…overall…dissapointing….
I have bought 2 cars, R50 and R56 Coopers from Park Lane and think I will be buying my JCW elsewhere. It’s nice to go and pick your car up from a posh part of central London and have a “MINI Park Lane” number plate but I think the staff are so used to diplomats and Russian billionaires walking in to buy cars for their wives on the spot they have no hunger for a deal (I’m talking even a small deal or a freebie) and are not actually that interested in MINIs, seeing it as a stepping stone to go and work for BMW next door.
The dealership is not that big and there’s not many accessories and parts on display, partly due to the fact their service centres are on the south side of the river in ugly industrial areas in the less salubrious areas of Vauxhall and Battersea. So the central London experience is over as soon as you have picked your new car up.
I went in to look at the Clubman a few weeks ago, I was dressed causually and one of the staff was practically looking down her nose at me. MINI needs a more enthusuastic and down to earth central London flagship dealer that’s worthy of the brand.
I agree with those saying the Park Lane dealer is not much chop. I went in May 2006 and found it to be a little underwhelming. The MINI showroom on the Friedrichstraße in Berlin, on the other hand, was great. Friendly staff and an impressive range of merchandise as well as cars!
I think all the reviews above are completely unjust. As a customer of the dealership (I have had 3 cars from them) I have been treated with nothing but respect, care and attention to detail. All my friends and colleagues have a least 1 MINI and they have had the same experience as me. I cannot beleive that a few tourists that were not allowed to take photographs are having a moan when they have no intention of purchasing a car but are happy to waste the time of ‘sales people’ not realising that they do not operate a tourist hotspot but a car showroom!