Automotive business passes to next generation

Annette Irwin, left, the new owner of Automotive Sales and Service, at 414-424 West B in McCook, stands with her husband, Bill, and Automotive employees: (front row, from left) Rich Johnson and Joe Titman. Back row: Greg Quinn, Cheryl Ruff, Laura Gohl, Deb Cacy and Kathy Graves. Annette's father, Otto Nilsson, started Automotive Sales and Service in 1950, in a small wood-frame building on the alley. The Automotive complex now covers a quarter-block.
(Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)

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Annette Nilsson Irwin, Otto's daughter, assumed ownership and control of Automotive Sales and Service in August 2009, moving from Omaha to McCook last summer.

The influence of her father, who will be 93 years old on April 3 and is retired in Omaha, is still felt throughout the building complex he built from a small shed on the alley at the corner of West Fourth and B. "Dad is my personal advisor," Annette said. "I listen to and respect everything he has to say. With him as my advisor, I know I'm heading in the right direction."

"I'm continuing, and building upon, what Dad has done," Annette said. "I want to continue his legacy. Knowing what he accomplished, with a limited education and very little English, I am so impressed. He's my Superman."

Automotive Sales and Services in McCook started in a small wood-frame building on the alley in the 400 block of West B, and from the very beginning, Otto Nilsson was determined to make the business different than any other auto parts jobber in McCook in 1950.

Otto had learned the automotive parts and service business in Omaha, coming from Sweden in 1935 to work first in a mechanic shop for $10 a week and later in the Carl Anderson automotive supply warehouse for $17.50 a week.

After serving in both the Swedish and U.S. armies, Otto returned to Omaha in 1947 to work as Anderson's shop foreman. He and Frances, a registered nurse, married in 1948, and Frances worked at Methodist Hospital in Omaha.

Meanwhile, two parts outlets closed in McCook, and Carl Anderson saw the opportunity to open a parts shop with a twist -- sales backed by service. Otto moved to McCook with a 10 percent share of the business and the chance to eventually buy the company's share of the McCook outlet.

The shop built its reputation on fair pricing and name-brand merchandise -- and of course, the service that other jobbers didn't offer.

Automotive expanded the shop onto an empty lot to the west in 1958, and Anderson sold Otto its share in 1967. The business gained more space and attracted more customers when Otto expanded onto land occupied by a former gas station on the corner and added diesel and small engine repairs.

"We sell only quality recognizable merchandize," Nilsson said in 1999. "We back up what we sell 100 percent. And the price will be right too."

On the eve of his business's 50-year anniversary in 2000, Nilsson said, "Many competitors have come and gone since I started. Here we sit today. I'm the only one left."

Throughout the years, Otto has shared credit for Automotive's success with employees he calls, "good, hard workers ... honest people." Annette agrees.

Those with the most longevity are:

* Rich Johnson, who started at Automotive in June 1957, and will have 53 years under his belt this summer;

* Joe Titman, who started in January 1964, and just recently celebrated 46 years with Automotive; and

* LeRoy Ulrich, who logged 49 years at Automotive before his death in May 2008.

"How many businesses can say that?" Annette asked.

The rest of Annette's crew are assistant manager Laura Gohl, who started in February 2008; automotive technician Greg Quinn, who started in April 2008; automotive technician and parts counter person Cheryl Ruff, who started in January 2009; bookkeeper Deb Cacy and shipping/receiving clerk Kathy Graves, each of whom started in November 2009; and Stephen Smock, who works at Automotive during breaks in his college schedule.

"I have lots of experience, and bright, new faces as well," Annette said.

Annette herself does not come without automotive experience, having spent 17 years in parts and administration in a Ford dealership in Omaha.

She admits there's a lot to learn about her father's auto parts business. "Every day is a learning experience here," she said, grinning. "But it's definitely well worth it.

Annette doesn't plan major changes in her father's already-successful business. She will transform sales space in a large north room into a showroom for snow blowers, chain saws and walk-behind and riding lawn mowers, and she plans some rearranging, and some cosmetic and painting projects. She plans sales at the beginning and end of each gardening, yard work and snow-blowing season. Annette said they'll have great deals on snow blowers and move on into sales on lawn mowers before too long.

Annette's biggest challenge may be bringing Otto's bookkeeping and inventory systems into the 21st century. Annette's husband, Bill, was involved in Web site design in Omaha, and is helping with Annette's computerization of Automotive.

"I'm trying to find computer software that will keep track of our inventory, inventory history, service, sales, invoicing," Annette said. "We sell 49 lines of parts," she said, chuckling at the challenge -- with or without a computer -- of keeping track of all that.

Annette and Bill are enjoying the move from Omaha to McCook. They're attending Chamber of Commerce activities, learning about the business atmosphere of McCook and Southwest Nebraska. Annette makes sales trips, stopping recently in Palisade, Wauneta and Imperial.

Annette's a regular visitor at the Sarah Ann Hester Home in Benkelman, where she visits Torsten Anderson, her dad's best friend and a fellow Swedish immigrant. Torsten will celebrate his 103rd birthday in July, and plans to attend Automotive's 60th anniversary celebration this fall -- " ... if Otto comes from Omaha," he says, his Swedish accent embedded in his English.

Annette lived in McCook twice as a little girl, and attended the first half of kindergarten at North Ward. She vividly remembers riding her little two-wheeler bike from their home near North Ward to Norris Park, her family frantically searching for her. "I wasn't scared, I knew where I was going -- moving forward," she said with a laugh.

Annette's mother enjoyed Omaha, so the family, which includes older brother Eric, moved back to Omaha. Otto commuted between McCook and Omaha every weekend for many, many years, and then quite regularly during the year, every year until about Thanksgiving 2007.

Automotive ... its customers .... the economic environment of McCook and Southwest Nebraska ... they've always been a big part of Annette's life because they were so much a part of her dad's life. Automotive Sales and Service is Otto Nilsson. It was built on his commitment to quality merchandise, to good service, to fair treatment of customers ... to customers who have become friends for life.

On a morning recently as she opened the doors of an automotive sales and service business nearing its 60th year, Annette said, "I want to continue Dad's belief in doing what's right ... his relationship with long-time friends and customers -- his legacy ... "