Alaska Sales and Service Inc.

1999 Top 49ers Ranking: 11 Position Last Year: 10 1998 Revenue: $109.6 million Numbers of Employees: 250

The owners of Alaska Sales and Service Inc. have three words to sum up the Anchorage dealership's 55 years of success: keeping customers happy.

"We take care of our customers," says company president Leonard Bryant. "We give them what they want."

"That means honesty and integrity and good service," adds general manager Diana Pfeiffer.

The company, owned by Bryant, Pfeiffer and three other Alaskans, must be doing something right. The huge General Motors dealership boasts multiple generations of loyal customers, including families in the Bush, who won't buy from anyone else. They know that the company will stand behind its products, even if it means replacing an occasional lemon, no questions asked.

Yearly revenues continually top $100 million. Last year, for example, revenues were $110 million; in 1997, they were $104.3 million.

Another secret to the dealership's success: one-stop shopping. Customers can choose from the full GM line, including Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, GMC, Pontiac and Oldsmobile, as well as commercial vehicles and used cars of all makes. The company provides leasing options on new cars and trucks, and its own financing on used vehicles.

Other services include an on-site service department, detailing shop, an auto accessory store, car rentals through National Car Rental.... And customer perks, like the dealership's annual "500 Sale," where sales staff cut good deals to sell as many cars as possible in 500 hours. Through the popular event alone, the dealership has sold a total of 33,718 vehicles over the past 35 years.

A gleaming, fully restored black 1923 Chevy Coupe sits high on a ledge in the dealership's vast showroom, reminding visitors that Alaska Sales and Service has been around almost as long.

The company, among the oldest existing dealers in the state, began in 1944 as a downtown Chevrolet franchise. A few years later, it moved to Third Avenue and E Street before the business moved east in 1965 to its present location at 1300 E. Fifth Ave.

Bryant came on board as a car mechanic in 1965, around the time then-owner, the late Max B. Kirkpatrick, fell ill. Bryant bought into the business in 1991, when it was sold by Jim Medema and Doug Hulen. Pfeiffer started as a bookkeeper in 1969, investing in the dealership four years ago. Her son, assistant general manager Shaun Pfeiffer, has also joined the team.

Alaska Sales and Service flourished in boom years, most noticeably during the Exxon Valdez cleanup, Diana Pfeiffer says. In those heady days of instant wealth, it wasn't unusual for cleanup workers to walk in with handfuls of cash and pay the full price of a vehicle.

Some years are better than others, however. Sales have vacillated with downturns in the local economy. Another challenge is competition from an ever-increasing number of new and used car dealers that have sprung up as Anchorage has grown. What's more, cars today are made better, last longer and require less maintenance.

"Change is an ongoing thing in this business," Diana Pfeiffer says.

What never changes, the owners point out, is treating people right. That includes employees, some of whom have been with the company for decades. Workers have company picnics, bowling matches, blood drives and recycling campaigns. Last year, in fact, the company was named Outstanding Business Recycler by Anchorage recycling consultants Green Star Inc.

Ultimately, prosperity lies in customer satisfaction, everyone agrees.

"Without our customers, we're nothing," Shaun Pfeiffer says. "You don't get to $110 million a year if you don't stand behind them."