Still not a barber, Capper enters 45th year selling cars

MARENGO — Thanks to a lack of good barber jobs, Charles Capper is starting his 45th year in the car business.

Charles Capper Ford in Williamsburg opened in November of 1979 at 409 N. Highland. Not only is the business still there, but Capper has added on to the original building and has expanded into Marengo and Washington.

After high school — Capper and his wife, Joanne, are Mid-Prairie graduates — Capper worked for Alcoa, attending barber college during the day while working nights. But after finishing the course, Capper couldn’t find a decent paying job, he said. He never worked as a barber, but he’s not crying about it.

“I wanted to be in the car business,” Capper said this week from his Marengo dealership. He’d worked for a dealership in Wellman while in high school.

In 1979, Grant Motors came up for sale, so Capper bought it. He had three guys in service to start out, he said. Younger brother Ron joined the staff not long after and is now the general manager at Charles Capper Ford in Williamsburg.

The grand opening was Nov. 16, 1979, the same day Capper’s twins were born. The morning of the grand opening, instead of heading to the dealership as originally planned, Capper drove his wife to Mercy hospital in Iowa City where Jeremy and Jeana were born.

Capper was back in Williamsburg in time to greet the public and serve pork sandwiches and baked beans at the grand opening of his new business.

Son Jon, who runs Charles Capper Auto Center in Marengo, a Chevrolet, GMC, Ford dealership, was 10 at the time. His brother, Jason, was five. The boys stood at the door during the grand opening and greeted people, said Capper.

These days Jason is the Capper information technology guy.

Jeremy — also beginning his 45th year — is general manager of Capper Auto Group in Washington which sells Dodge, Jeep and Ram. Jeana does accounting for the dealerships.

When Capper started his business in 1979, Iowa County had many dealerships, he said. Marengo had five, North English had two, and Victor had one. Capper is the only survivor.

“If you own your own business, you’re going to put in a lot of work to make it successful,” said Capper. “I sold cars. I worked in parts.

“Thank goodness for my wife,” Capper said. “I used to work a lot of nights and weekends.”

Capper’s wife would bring the children and meals to the dealership so the family could spend dinner together, Capper said. “It was good in one sense because all my kids grew up around it.”

In the 1980s, the economy “really took a tank,” Capper said. “There were a lot of farmers that went under.” Interest rates were around 21%.

The economy took its toll on car dealership in Iowa County. “Some of them just got out because things were so tough,” said Capper. “It was just tough.”

Every business has lean years, said Capper. A good relationship with a banker “makes a lot of difference,” he said.

Inventory is big investment. Capper looked out at the snow-covered parking lot at Charles Capper Auto Center. The trucks on the lot range from $40,000 to $90,000 in price, he said.

A person used to be able to buy a Ford LTD for about $3,500, said Capper, “but back then you could buy a new house for $15,000.”

Today a Ford Edge is over $40,000.

“I bought out Bob Simmons, who had Simmons Motor Company, in 1990,” Capper said. In 1999, he bought out F.D. Potts.

“I think a lot of the success is because of it being family,” said Capper. “My boys, they look out for my interests.

“And the city of Williamsburg was always very supportive.” Capper employs 61 people. “Right now, we’ve got a lot of good employees.”

Capper will probably have an open house to celebrate the 45-year milestone closer to November, he said. “We’ve got two employees in Williamsburg that have been with us for over 40 years.

“We made a lot of friends. Met a lot of really nice people,” said Capper, “so it’s been very rewarding from that sense.”