Happy anniversary Avis: 50 years in Alaska: despite changes in the business, Avis thrives and meets customer demand.

• Author: Martin, Gary L.

Avis Alaska is celebrating its 50-year anniversary. It has been family owned and operated since Robert Halcro and his wife, Barbara, came to Anchorage from San Francisco on their honeymoon in 1955 and started a car-leasing business before returning to the Lower 48. About a year later, they got the exclusive Avis franchise for the state of Alaska.

The Halcro family moved to Anchorage in the mid-1960s, according to Andrew Halcro, CEO, president and the founder's son. Prior to that, a local manager attended to the day-today operations at their original office, which was located at 13th Avenue and L Street in what is now Inlet Tower Hotel & Suites.

"Over the past 50 years, we have grown from two employees to more than 100," said Halcro from his current headquarters at the corner of Aircraft Drive and International Airport Road, near the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. "And, we've also expanded our fleet of cars from 20 to more than 1,500 vehicles."

THEIR ROOTS

Proud of what his parents started, Halcro says they currently have offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kenai, Kodiak, Juneau, Sitka and Petersburg, and on a seasonal basis in Skagway and Whittier.

"It's always been a close-knit family business," Halcro said. "While I'm the CEO, we are still a family business, and when we get together, our family dinners can become quite eventful."

The history of Avis Corp. (the parent company) started about a decade earlier when the founder, Warren Avis, opened his car-leasing business at Willow Run Airport in Detroit. Avis started a trend with his $85,000 investment; he opened the country's first car-rental company at an airport. It was not long afterward that Avis opened his second rental office at Miami Airport in Florida. In 1953, he began franchise operations in Europe, Canada and Mexico. That same year, he sold the company for $8 million. Since then it has changed hands more than a dozen times.

OVER THE YEARS

The biggest changes over the years in Alaska, according to Halcro, are the costs of doing business and the changes in the attitudes of the consumers.

He says one example of the increasing expenses is the rise in the cost of new cars. Over the past 10 years, cars have doubled in price.

The Internet also has made major changes for Avis Alaska. Halcor says while it is easier for customers to make reservations, people are under the opinion that the longer they wait the better price they will receive. For a company that does about 60...