by Lee Erwin
When you hear the phrase, a family owned business, one of Clarksville’s businesses with a long history should be one of the first to come to mind because it’s truly a family endeavor. Recently I sat down with Katherine Johnson Cannata, with Wyatt-Johnson Buick, GMC and she told me the dealership has been serving customers in the community since 1946. Katherine’s grandfather, Henry Wyatt, started the business and later his daughter, Louise Wyatt, married Sid Johnson and then Sid joined the business with his father-in-law. Sid grew the business for 50 years until he passed away in 2007. Wyatt-Johnson was originally a Chrysler, Plymouth and Dodge franchise until Sid sold it in the early 1980’s to start the Buick, Pontiac, GMC dealership.
In 1999 the Wyatt-Johnson Buick, Pontiac, GMC dealership moved from their location on Kraft Street to their current location at 2600 Wilma Rudolph Blvd. In 2003 Wyatt- Johnson’s import franchises, Hyundai, Subaru and Mazda also moved from Kraft Street to their new location at 2425 Wilma Rudolph Blvd. Katherine along with her brother, Sidney Johnson, now share their responsibilities as co-dealers at the Buick, GMC site and their brother-in-law Bill Powers is General Manager of the Hyundai, Subaru and Mazda stores. In 2009, General Motors Corporation made the decision to drop the Pontiac line, but of course Wyatt-Johnson still provides service for Pontiac customers at the dealership.
I asked Katherine to tell me about some of the changes she has seen take place in the automotive business over the past few years. She said “because of the internet, customers are so much more knowledgeable and informed.” They’re more informed about vehicles, options they want and dealerships.” “I think for good dealerships who are honest and trustworthy and dealerships who know the product, it makes it easier.” Katherine added, “We have some of the best trained sales people in product knowledge and if a customer comes in and they’ve done their research, our sales people can really relate to that customer and make them feel at home with the vehicle.”
When you talk about something that hasn’t changed at Wyatt-Johnson and one of the things that sets them apart from other dealerships, Katherine says is “The longevity of our people which makes a huge difference.” “When customers come to see us they see the same faces all the time and deal with the same people which is comforting and customers like to go where they’re comfortable.”
Along with new car and truck sales as well as used vehicles Wyatt-Johnson features a service and parts department at both of their dealerships and a body shop which is located on Kraft Street. There is also a new business affiliated with the dealership, Wyatt-Johnson Auto Credit. Katherine says “We are now financing cars for people that need a little bit more help getting financed.” Katherine said “They are very excited about the new business venture and they have been able to help a lot of people get into a car who normally wouldn’t be able to get traditional financing.”
Wyatt-Johnson received a very prestigious award when they were named the largest Buick, GMC volume dealer in Tennessee for 2009. Katherine said “We sold more Buick and GMC vehicles than any other dealership in the state.” “Month in and month out we’ll be the largest in the southeast region which is eleven states and our goal for 2010 is to be number one in the southeast region.”
To learn more about Wyatt-Johnson you can call Wyatt-Johnson Buick, GMC at 931 647-5651 or the Hyundai, Subaru and Mazda store at 931 648-4300. Online you can go to www.wyattjohnson.com and that one web site features information about each of the individual automotive franchises. For the new Wyatt-Johnson Auto Credit location at 809 Kraft Street, call 931 591-2200.
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