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CarMax opening Plano innovation center, hiring 300 for expanded North Texas operations

The new tech hub in Plano will be the company’s largest outside of its Virginia headquarters.

CarMax, the largest used car retailer in the country, is opening a technology innovation center in Plano and hiring 300 employees to support expanded operations in the Dallas area.

The innovation center is expected to open by mid-September at the Granite Park office campus. The company plans to hire as many as 200 hybrid or remote-work software engineers, architects and analysts to staff the office. Some of those hires may work out of CarMax’s Richmond, Va., headquarters, according to the company.

The new Plano tech hub will be the company’s largest outside of its Virginia headquarters, CarMax chief information and technology officer Shamim Mohammad said.

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CarMax has been undergoing a digital transformation to make the company more tech-centric, Mohammad said. That’s involved recruiting talent and hiring for roles that can support the expansion of its business.

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“We’ve been growing, and we’ve been recognized by a lot of folks in the industry – a lot of universities and research institutions – as a highly innovative technology organization,” Mohammad said. “Which has been awesome for me to observe ... the evolution of our company from a brick and mortar store-based company to an omnichannel digital technology company.”

Employees on-site will focus on leveraging software development, machine learning and data science to improve customer experience. Mohammad anticipates the Plano office will have to expand as the company grows and adds even more employees in the future.

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In addition to the technology center, CarMax will also open a new, 11-acre facility southeast of Dallas in Hutchins to bolster its vehicle wholesale business. The company is centralizing its car auctions at the facility in Hutchins – which can store up to 3,000 cars – and plans to begin hosting virtual auctions by October. CarMax will hire 25 employees to support the new auction center.

The company is also expanding its customer care team, hiring 75 remote workers in Dallas to contribute to over-the-phone and online customer support.

CarMax opened its first retail storefront in Dallas in 1997 and today employs roughly 900 in North Texas at its seven store locations. The company has 220 locations and 27,000 employees around the U.S.

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The expansion for the used vehicle retailer comes as the pandemic and supply chain troubles have constricted dealership inventory and sent used vehicle prices soaring. CarMax reported $7.7 billion in revenue for the three-month period ending May 31, up 138% from the same period a year earlier.

CarMax has been competing with other used car retailers like Carvana over the limited stock of used cars. The company said it is now the largest online buyer of used vehicles, having purchased 163,000 cars through its instant online appraisal tool.