Smart Motors family celebrates driving rocky road to growth

Smart Motors -- a fourth generation business with roots even a generation earlier -- is celebrating its 100th year with a new 100,000-square-foot building on the West Side at 5901 Odana Road.

Started in 1908 by O.D. Smart, the business survived when other dealerships did not, staying above water even during the Depression and World War II. Smart had a degree in mechanical engineering from UW-Madison and was a bit of a renaissance man, taking a number of jobs on the side -- including performing wedding ceremonies.

"It helped keep the business going through some really rough times," said a grandson, J.R. (Jim) Smart, who now runs the business with his brother, Brian.

Smart Motors, which started operating on University Avenue in Madison in 1912, was the only dealership of 14 in town that was not forced to declare bankruptcy in the 1930s and 1940s.

But a break in the Smart lineage nearly occurred at the business.

Jim Smart, who was O.D. Smart's son and Brian and J.R.'s father, sought a different path after earning an accounting degree from UW-Madison. He worked for several companies as an accountant, including Madison Newspapers, eventually moving to Chicago and then Fort Wayne.

But eventually his father "cajoled" him into returning to the business where he worked when he was young, J.R. Smart said.

There he joined Paul Emmerich, a brother-in-law who was married to Jim Smart's sister, Janet. Emmerich had started at the business a bit earlier and the two remained business partners for about 50 years.

Horse-drawn wagons

As a precursor to the car business, Brian and J.R. Smart's great grandfather, F.J. (Frank James), sold horse-drawn Studebaker wagons before the turn of the century.

But the Smarts date their business to 1908 -- the year the first Model T rolled out of the factory. That year, O.D. Smart, who was F.J. Smart's son, began selling automobiles out of his father's livery stable in Waukesha.

J.R. Smart, now 54, went to UW-Madison where he studied business and planned to return to the family business since he was a young boy. He worked a number of jobs, learning the business in the body shop and as an auto technician and salesman.

Brian Smart, now 51 and the second boy in the family, did similar tasks as his brother when he was young and attended Madison Area Technical College where he studied marketing. He took somewhat of a different path from his brother when he returned, starting in the sales department and leaning more toward jobs in the office such as working in finance and insurance.

Jim Smart, who also was named F.J. like his grandfather and called that by some, died at age 80 a year before his sons moved into the new building this past December. He had never really retired although he had formally passed the business on to his sons through a succession plan.

"The days were shorter but it was so much a part of him there was no consideration of retiring," Brian Smart said. "He had passed on the leadership to J.R. but he really was the leader till the end."

In the 1950s and early 1960s, Jim Smart's wife, Avis, who had a journalism degree from UW Madison, worked on some of the ads and marketing campaigns for the business.

When Emmerich died in 2003, Jim Smart purchased his share of the company.

In 2004, J.R. Smart became president and his father became chairman. Brian Smart continued as sales manager for the company's Volvo franchise. In 2006, Brian Smart became vice president of Smart Motors

Jim Smart had groomed his sons for their positions. Known as a fair man with his employees, Jim Smart worked long hours and had high expectations for his sons.

"The standards were a little higher for us," J.R. Smart said.

The brothers enjoyed working for their father and felt comfortable suggesting changes in the business.

"Some were embraced and many weren't," said Brian Smart, who is a member of the Family Business Center of the Wisconsin School of Business along with his brother.

Sometimes the younger Smarts would write up a proposal and their father would take a red pen to it, drawing lines through parts where he had disagreements.

"As time went on and I gained a little more experience under my belt, I saw less and less of those red lines," J.R. Smart said.

Moved in 1966

When Smart Motors was moved in 1966 to Odana Road, the decision was risky because it was a desolate area and most other dealers were still in the Downtown area. Ironically, Jim Smart's dad died around that time -- a similar coincidence to the dealership's recent move.

In 1989, Smart Motors built a stand-alone, 16,500-square-foot Toyota showroom at 5801 Odana Road to keep up with Madison's demand for the cars.

The way J.R. and Brian Smart replaced the Toyota showroom and the original building, which was some 20,000 square feet, is something they admit might not have been the choice of their father, who grew up during the Depression.

"My father probably would not have built this facility this large," J.R. Smart said. "We probably went a little hog wild on this building."

Grand opening in May

The company now sells Toyotas and Scions at the new building where a grand opening is planned for May if construction stays on schedule. The company also has a used car lot across the street at 5702 Odana Road.

Brian Smart does not have children while J.R. Smart has 17-year-old daughter, Hannah, who has worked at the business from time to time, leaving open the door for a future generation.

"She's expressed an interest … a little too soon to tell," Brian Smart said.

Brian and J.R. Smart said they were lured to the business as young boys by being surrounded by new cars and getting the chance to get behind the wheel. The thrill is still there.

"You couldn't wait for them to come off the truck," Brian Smart said. "You just wanted to climb into those cars. It's still exciting to see the changes."

Pamela Cotant is a freelance writer.