Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)

Main drag caters to cars.

Article Excerpt
Byline: MATT COOPER The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - When Wally Knecht was a teen-ager, just two things competed for space with his dad's car parts store on Main Street: houses and fields.

Knecht spent his Saturdays pumping gas and listening to truckers swap stories while they passed a bottle. It was 1955, and the only other business around was the fruit stand across the street.

Knecht is 61 now, a towering and easygoing man who gives the kind of hearty handshakes that start when he throws his huge hand into yours from somewhere around eye level.

Main Street's all grown up, too. It happens slow as aging, and Knecht might not have noticed it at all had someone not brought it up a couple of years back.

"A friend said, `My goodness, what's all this auto stuff on the street?' ' Knecht, owner of Knecht's Auto Parts, says. "I wasn't even aware of it."

Lots of people weren't. Guys running garages up and down Main Street weren't. The mayor wasn't.

Then you start thinking about it, and you start counting the signs: Auto supply. Used cars. Service center. Lube job. Paint job. Body shop. Batteries. Brakes. Tires.

There is a lot of business on Main Street that caters to automobile owners.

From 19th Street to 42nd Street, in fact, there are...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!