Stan Reynolds: car dealership pioneer
by Tracy Hyatt
When northern Albertans hear the name Wetaskiwin, most can’t help but recall the “Cars Cost Less in Wetaskiwin” jingle. Stan Reynolds, 85, knows that tune very well. He also knows why people flock to his small town at the junction of Highway 13 and 2A to buy cars. In 1945, Reynolds opened one of the first car dealerships located on the town’s now-famous Auto Mile. From there he built a business empire that would also include a finance company, farm equipment retailer, small aircraft dealership and an airstrip that would become the regional airport. But from these he also built a personal collection of transportation equipment of all kinds, partly out of an effort to preserve provincial heritage. In 1981, Reynolds, a member of the Alberta Order of Excellence, donated to the province more than 850 artifacts that became the foundation of the Reynolds-Alberta Museum.
AV: Where did you get the money to start your first business?
SR: I only had $3,000 which I saved up from my earnings in the Air Force. I couldn’t even afford to lay down a cement floor so I would buy a load of cinders from the steam engines for 75 cents and dump them on my [showroom] floor. I did that for years.
What was the key to running a good car dealership?
It was important to have a good advertising manager and a good sales manager. I
managed most of the salespeople and taught them how to close deals. I had codes. There was a code for the regular price and a code for the lowest cash price that they could bargain down to. Even if the customer saw [it], he wouldn’t know what that code was. The salesperson would.
Why did people travel miles to buy from you? Why not go to Edmonton?
We did a lot of advertising. We would buy full page ads in the papers and we did lots of radio ads. Everyone listened to the radio back then. That’s how our name got known as the place to buy cars for a fair price. People came from all over the province, B.C. and Saskatchewan.
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