| In 1984, the Aztec Chamber of Commerce invented a new award, the 50-Year
Business Award, for Jim Dusenbery. Dusenbery's has been in business for
66 years under the same ownership, and this year marks their 62nd at the
same location.
Jim Dusenbery and
his brother Jess started in business November 1, 1934, opening the original
Court Service Station.
In 1939, Dusenbery's
began selling Studebakers. During the war years, no cars or trucks were
made, but by 1949, Studebakers were again available. Bud Hancock came
on board to help in the new car sales department.
Jim, Bud, and other
employees traveled over Wolf Creek Pass to Walsenburg, Colorado, to unload
cars off the railroad docks and drive them back to Aztec. Jim always claimed
that the 1950 Studebaker Land Cruiser was the best car built for traveling
over Wolf Creek Pass in the winter.
In 1950, Jim began
selling Hudsons, bought through the Barbicovi Motor Company in Walsenburg,
CO, and in 1951, Valley Service was considered "Top Dealer in the
Omaha District" for trucks. At that time they were also selling
Philco and Maytag appliances and radios. In 1952, the Hudson business
was sold
to Gene Stewart.
In 1966, Studebaker
went out of business, but in 1965,
Jim had decided to sell the then fairly unknown Datsun, calling the business
Valley Datsun. Bud was now partner with Jim on the Datsun franchise and
they trailered or drove the cars back to Aztec from the docks in Los Angeles,
California.
In 1966, Jim bought
the Woods house, across from the garage, and then made the front of the
house a car lot for the Datsuns. Shortly after 1970, the parts department
was moved to its present location, and this part of the business was called
Valley Parts. Merchandise was bought from independent warehouses out of
Albuquerque and Denver.
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About 1975, Jim bought
out Bud Hancock's part of the Datsun franchise, and with his son Bob ran
the operation. He continued working at the store until 1985. His sons,
Bob and Bill, have always worked in the family business, except for the
time when they were away at college.
In 1982, the wholesale
parts business started to buy parts from the American Parts System—now
known as Big A—in Albuquerque. And in 1984, the downstairs of the
front part of the garage was enclosed for a new car show room. In 1985,
Datsun began the name change to Nissan, at which time the original building
got a face-lift with additions to the front and back.
Today Bob's boys,
Jimmy and Kent, are in the family business. In 1999, Dusenbery's switched
from Big A Auto Parts to CarQuest Auto Parts and added Pace American Trailers
to their product line.
Bob, Sue, Jimmy, Kent
Dusenbery and James Derose maintain the parts operation, bookkeeping,
warranty, and claims. Bill Dusenbery handles the car sales operations.
Dennis Hamilton and Ronny Tanner keep everything running in the Service
Department.
Dusenbery is a small
operation by intention. This has advantages and disadvantages, but a small
operation has a better handle on what's going on and personalized service
results in higher customer satisfaction. This is evident in the High Customer
Satisfaction scores they continually receive from Nissan.
In a rapidly changing
industry, Dusenbery's has tried to maintain an honest and up front approach
to their sales, and have not resorted to the razzle dazzle of big city
practices.
Having an import franchise
in a very small town is not always easy, but customer loyalty has supported
them through the years.
"We feel that
if we take care of our customers and our community, they will take care
of us." |
