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WHERE'S WALDO ?
Need help finding your way to the Waldo Area?
Map Your Way!
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Bob Smith Motor Company Celebrates 50 Years |
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They just don’t make signs like that any more - the bold retro red arrow directing you into the small, neat car lot, its neon neatly spelling out “Bob Smith Motor Co.” Even that name seems like something out of the past – simple and straight-forward, like an honest handshake. These images are of the past – some 50 years past, to be exact. And happily, they’re part of the present, too. For this year marks Bob Smith Motor Company’s 50th anniversary in business, and with no apparent sign of letting up.
It was 1958 when Bob Smith started his automobile dealership. He came by his interest in selling cars naturally – both his father and uncle had dealerships. But from the beginning, Smith worked to build his own business, which for many years primarily served as a wholesale car buyer for dealerships in the four-state region. He started out on Prospect, where he first hung that sign during his second year in business. For the first 20 years of business, the dealership was on south Prospect and south Troost. But in 1978, he moved the sign and the dealership to its present location, tucked away on the corner of Gregory and Wornall.
The dealership hasn’t changed much over the years, at least not in terms of what matters. Now they sell all makes of new and used vehicles direct to the individual buyer. But it’s still individual service that is their hallmark. Like many successful businesses in the area, Smith attributes a good deal of his success to having catered to generations of customers, right in the area. “If you draw a circle five miles around us, you’d include 85 percent of our customers,” Smith said in a 1997 Kansas City Star article. Smith’s clientele stay with him, through two and three generations. As Smith’s office manager Jenny Ruppert says, “He’s the kind of car dealer who won’t sell you a car if he doesn’t think it’s right for your daughter.”
Today, Bob Smith is still on the job, but with the support of his staff of six, who have a combined experience of more than 50 years. That’s over and above Smith’s own 5 decades. That much know-how is a real rarity these days.
Yep, they just don’t make them like that any more.
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Storage Mart Named “Waldo’s Best” |
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For November, the WABA Property Committee selected Storage Mart, 7438 Wornall Road, as recipient of the monthly Waldo’s Best award.
Storage Mart moved into Waldo just eight years ago, built on the site of a former grocery store. In addition to being one of the few self-storage facilities in the central city, they provide other products and services, including UPS drop-off, U-Haul rental trucks, shipping materials, and even wine storage. According to manager Larry Hazel, “That’s what makes us unique, these products. Most other storage facilities don’t offer all we do.”
Storage Mart’s improvements were basic but important – a fresh coat of paint for the outside, and most importantly for a storage facility, a new roof! But there are changes on the inside as well. In September, Storage Mart announced the arrival of their new assistant manager, Aaron Lawrence, bringing their total staff to 5.
Storage Mart is open seven days a week, 9am to 5:30pm Monday through Friday, 9am to 2pm Saturday, and noon to 3pm on Sunday. Next time you’re in the heart of Waldo, stop by and thank Larry Hazel and his staff for helping to make Waldo such a great community.
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