KINGFIELD – Norman Knapp, co-owner of the Knapp Brothers Chrysler dealership, can remember a time when the dealership stopped selling cars.
“I grew up during World War II,” he said, “when there were no cars being manufactured.” The Kingfield dealership survived by “running a taxi service and selling the likes of radios and some appliances,” Knapp said. “And then, in 1946, the cars went back to production and they went back to selling cars.”
Knapp Brothers will stop selling cars for good on Dec. 31, after almost 100 years in business, when the current set of Knapp brothers, Norman and Clint, close the business to retire.
The business began in 1910, at first as a livery stable and later as a new and used car dealership, Norman Knapp said. He and Clint bought the business from their father in 1966, making them the second set of Knapp brothers to own the dealership.
Clint and Norman Knapp’s decision to close Knapp Brothers comes after years of trying to “put together a sale,” Norman Knapp said. The brothers are rapidly reaching retirement age, he said, and decided years ago either to sell the business or close it so they could retire. Both are disappointed not to have been able to sell the business. “We’re getting to the age where we should be retired, and want to be retired, and we’ve tried to retire, Norman Knapp said, “but we also wanted to be able to preserve jobs for the crew we have.”
“That would still be our preference, to keep it in operation.”
Clint Knapp added he is “just going to be sorry to see it close.”
Norman Knapp’s son Roger Knapp has worked full-time for his father and uncle for the past 10 years. He said he thinks the dealership will be missed when it closes. “We certainly have a lot of people coming in and saying they’re going to miss having us,” he said. “My father and uncle have worked hard to please people and we’re entering an era where customer service seems to suffer in a lot of industries,” he added.
Annie Davenport of Kingfield, who has worked at Knapp Brothers for the past 25 years, said she is sad to see the dealership go but understands the brothers’ desire to retire.
“There aren’t any jobs around here,” she said.
Michael Goff of Anson stepped into the dealership’s small showroom Monday.
“I bought my very first car here, didn’t I?” he said. “We’re going to miss them.”
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