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dealership spotlight / service names like the Twenty road- ster, Essex-Terraplane, Super Six and Phaeton, which by 1925 all helped make Hudson the nation's third-largest au- tomaker. The family continued its partnership with Hudson through most of the industry- wide struggles brought on by the Great Depression in 1929. But in the late 1930s, they traded the Hudson emblem for the familiar tri-shield badge of Buick. Witt has been a stand- alone franchise of the GM brand ever since. On June 29, 2012, the official centennial commemoration was the toast of the town, drawing hundreds from miles around to a classic car show that featured a 1910 Hudson, a 1911 REO and, of course, a 1912 Buick, all on the 100- year-old showroom floor. The celebration was topped off with cake and hot dogs, which were barely enough to satisfy the large crowd's appetite. "It was a good kind of problem to have," Jan Witt said of the turnout. The store front at Witt Buick in Muskegon, Mich., looks essentially the same today as it did when it was built 100 years ago. Service to survive Service has been one of the keys to survival for Witt Buick, said the store's owner. But the term has played a dual role over the last century. First, there is the customer service that has made the small Muskegon dealership a beloved member of the largely blue-collar community. They are customer-oriented in all facets of the business, Witt said. "Customer care is impor- tant at all levels of the dealer- ship, and they know this," she said of her 34 employees. "We regularly get (customers) who tell us it's so nice to deal with someone who treats them like a person." There is no opulent BDC, sprawling autoplex or elaborate CRM in place. "We're all like family," Witt said of the customer-em- ployee relationship. Visitors may find themselves talking up Friday night's football game with a salesman or sharing pictures of the kids with any member of the staff. To nurture those relationships, the dealership has traditionally hosted two customer appreci- ation parties a year to show its gratitude for the friendships the community has afforded for decades. You don't stay in the automotive sales industry by treating customers as merely leads or data, Witt believes. "We are very much customer-focused," she added. Charles Witt (right) checks out a model displayed at a car show with his son, Frank, who along with his father in 1912 co-founded of what would become Witt Buick. Witt's commitment to down- town Muskegon—part of the larger Muskegon-Norton Shores Metropolitan Statistical Area of more than 170,000 on the eastern banks of Lake Michigan—has helped culti- vate much of the dealer-cus- tomer trust. Not only has the dealership been in business for 100 years, but it also has had the same address virtually that entire length of time. And while expansion and renova- tion are on the horizon, there are no plans to move Witt Buick from its modest midtown location. Service's second role in Witt's longevity is the actual service department. A full-service dealer, Witt Buick offers every- thing from replacement wiper blades to a body shop. In fact, service department deals are featured equally as promi- nently on WittBuick.com as the new and used vehicles on the lot. It's a linchpin in the history of the business and remains a huge part of the dealership's operation. The store typically stocks an aver- age of only 50 to 60 units split between new and used cars. "We are a small dealer," she explained, but "our tire sales put us in a class of 'big deal- ers.'" In August alone, Witt Buick sold more than 300 tires. "We rarely sell below 200 a month." When dealerships like Muskegon's previous Buick retailer were shuttering as new car sales dropped 75 percent from 1929 to 1932 during the Great Depression, the service department was there to keep Witt afloat. When production of all automobiles ceased dur- ing World War II while Buick factories turned to engines for American bombers, tank de- stroyers and more than 12.5 million casings of ammunition, Witt's service department continued to keep the busi- ness' doors open. And amid the protracted fight to keep the Buick brand during GM's 41