By: Ryan Rerich, Sticker Intern
Brasher Motor Company of Weimar is celebrating its century of existence during the first week of June.
The week of June 1-6 kicks off with a few private events in the beginning of the week, culminating with two public events at 1700 Interstate 10 East in Weimar.
On Friday, June 5, from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Brasher Motor Company, or “Brasher’s,” will host the public with the K-BUK 104.9 radio station covering the events of the day. Cookies and coffee will be available to all.
Many door prizes and raffle items will be given throughout the day to the members of the public that attend the event.
Following the long Friday full of festivities, Brasher’s will have another full day on Saturday, with action from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., with Texas Thunder radio on the grounds.
Delicious barbecue from Brenner’s Barbecue will be served to the public free of charge from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and again there will be numerous door prizes along with a raffle. Prizes include a Yeti cooler, Astros tickets, bedliners, bumpers, and much more. Free paintless dent repair will also be available to those attending in need of this vehicle repair.
There will be special deals on vehicles and Brasher’s hopes to bring many people to the lot. The deals will be on the website and on the windows as customers walk through the doors. The celebration will be a mixture between party and sales, full of many festivities and giveaways.
This is an exciting week for the family-owned business, but Brasher Motor Company of Weimar did not get to this centennial celebration without a rich history preceding the present times.
The Brasher Buick Company got its start in Weimar on June 1, 1915 when the father-son duo of Henry “Hans” Brasher and Henry Brasher Jr. opened the doors to the business in downtown Weimar.
By the late 1920s, Hans Brasher’s other three sons all were working at the family-run company as well. Jack was the bookkeeper, Francis or “Teddy” was the parts man and Laure was a mechanic.
The named changed to Brasher Motor Company during the Great Depression when the Brasher Buick Company purchased the Chevrolet franchise from George Herder Jr.
After two decades of prosperity and expansion, Brasher Motor Company had found its way into the communities of Schulenburg, La Grange and Flatonia. The company had used and new car lots in these communities as well as multi-use garages.
In the early 1950s, David Gunn, husband of Henry Brasher Jr.’s only child Catherine, joined the business. Others from the generation started to do the same, and within the next 25 years, Tommy Brasher and Henry Gunn found themselves as Brasher’s employees.
Brasher’s has always been owned by family. Tommy Brasher, present owner of the company, is the nephew of the late Henry Brasher Jr., the co-founder and son of Henry “Hans” Brasher, the root of the organization.
By 1981, the elders of the family who had worked throughout their lives at Brasher’s had passed, so the remaining members of the family decided to split up to different locations.
The Weimar and La Grange locations bought interest in each other and parted ways. Tommy and Karen Brasher started the new company in 1984, Brasher Motor Company of Weimar, Inc.
Henry Gunn is the owner of Brasher-Gunn Inc. in La Grange and the two businesses continue to be separate incorporations.
Scott Brasher, the fourth generation of Brashers to work at the company, joined his parents full-time in 2002.
“Surprisingly it went pretty well,” Scott said. I guess having grown up in all this; you always talk about it at the dinner table. The hardest part for me was getting used to the small town where you know everybody and everybody knows you … You are family here and that is really what it is.”
The customers are faithful to Brasher’s and there are many reasons that they keep coming back.
“One reason that we have so many customers is that they say the only reason that they come here is because so-and-so works here,” Brasher added.
The small town feel is definitely obvious when the customer walks in. This also plays a role in the trust of the consumers and the at-home feeling they get when walking through the doors.
“One of the things we have been doing for probably the last 30 years is personalized pick-up and delivery service,” said Brasher. “In Weimar that may not be a big deal, but our customers from out -of-town, this is huge for them. We do not charge for that and that has really been something that means a lot to our company and boosted it over the past few decades.”
Personal connection is huge with any company and this remains true with Brasher Motor Company in Weimar. “When we had four locations open, we probably had 60 or 70 employees. The customers likely knew someone that worked here or even had a family member that worked here. This still carries on to some of our customers today,” said Brasher.
The old locations of Brasher’s in the surrounding communities can still be found today.
“The one in Flatonia turned into a gas station – if you are going into Flatonia on 90, right before you get to downtown it’s a building on the corner that sits at a 45 degree angle,” said Brasher. “I think that used to be the shop that uncle Henry’s father-in-law owned.
“The Schulenburg lot is right next to the Von Minden Hotel, which is still a parking lot,” said Brasher. “That was always just more of a used car lot. La Grange dealership was located in La Grange where it is today and they are renovating that right now.
“We (Brasher’s in Weimar) had probably eight or nine buildings downtown,” Brasher continued. “I really did not want to move from downtown. I was in college when that process was going on. I did not want the downtown feeling to leave Weimar, but that is what a lot of towns are doing. People are moving to the interstate because that is where the business is.”
Technology has come a very long way over the past century and really just over the past few decades, said Brasher.
“The way you buy a vehicle has changed so much since I have been here the past 13 years,” he said.. “The Internet has brought a ton of change into buying a vehicle. People come in knowing a lot of information already about the vehicles. That was not true back in the day.”
Vehicle technology has also changed so much. What cars can do now is incredible, he expressed.
“That is one of the things I love most about the car business is the technology. To me a car is not something you use to go from one place to another, but rather an expression of yourself that describes what you like,” he said.
The “new and advanced feeling” is what brands are striving for in the new millennial and General Motors representatives have come in and set specific guidelines that they want the dealerships to use. La Grange and Weimar have made large investments to meet those requirements and match the new brandings that GM wants them to match. This can be noted in the similarities when standing outside the front door and looking at the appearance of the dealerships.
It was truly a century full of history and deserves a high honor and lengthy celebration. The purpose of the first week of June marking the 100th year in existence is to “try and just have a big celebration for the family, the employees, the community, and just really for everyone,” said Brasher. “The thing we want to stress in the celebration is the employees that work here. We have people that have worked here 30 to 40 years and have never had another job. That is incredible.
“That is why we are still here a hundred years later. It is not because we are tremendous managers or bosses or anything, it is because of the way the employees work.”
The celebrations are set in two weeks and the enjoyments are waiting to be experienced in the near future.
“Come out and see what we are all about out here. You will be able to see the new products and take a test drive if you would like. We will be here till 7 on Friday and 5 on Saturday, so hopefully we will be super busy,” Brasher said.
“We may have some super ridiculous deals that are only good that week, but most of our deals should be month long. So swing on by if you have time and check out what is going on.”
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