Hometown integrity and prompt customer service boost Alaska Sales and Service.

• Author: Richardson, Jeffrey
• Position: Alaska Sales and Service Inc. - The New 49ers - Company Profile

On Feb. 19, 1965, the front page of The Anchorage Times featured the rescue of copper miners in British Columbia and a coup in Vietnam. But for a far northern town of 35,000, the real story in the 10-cent paper was inside the front section. Sprawled over five pages, three articles and two photos described the building and opening of a huge new customer service center by Alaska Sales and Service.

The $1.5 million structure boasted 600,000 square feet of sales and service space, and covered more than half of a city block. Its completion had been dramatically delayed when the structure collapsed during the March 1964 earthquake.

It indicates just how cozy Anchorage was in those days that local firms took out 20 large ads in the 28-page edition to salute the General Motors dealer for its milestone. Most of the ads were from contractors or vendors extolling the extreme honor of being involved in such a significant project.

An ad placed by Alaska Aggregate Corp. conveys the celebratory mood of the day:

"A dream for the future, interpreted by modern science into a thing of stunning beauty and great functional utility. Built to serve the needs of man for a century to come!"

It sounds grandiose today, but those who were there recall that the project was an eye-opener.

Always New

"To have a dealership of that magnitude was something at the time. Every mechanic had three stalls and there was an acre of parking on the roof," recalls Leonard Bryant, president and general manager of Alaska Sales and Service Inc. "It was a big deal, it was enormous. They were building for the future."

In 1965, Bryant was one of those mechanics, just starting out with the company. His recollections emphasize the working man's appreciation for having a nice place to practice his craft.

"When you went under a car to work on it, you didn't need a light because the light reflected off the floors and walls. It was a facility that could easily handle a heavy workload. This was the premier place to work. Still is in my opinion."

Looking at the old newspaper layout style and retail prices, 1965 seems like a long time ago. Gleem toothpaste sold for 67 cents a tube, the Hickory House advertised full barbecue dinners for $2.50, a new Zenith 19-inch portable TV was offered for $169.95, and you could rent a car for $6 a day and 8 cents per mile. Show times at the Billiken Drive-In were 7 p.m. and 10:29 p.m.; car heaters rented for 50 cents each.

And an Old Veteran

But in 1965, the...