Jim Cannon recalls his 40-plus years in the car business and the simple philosophy behind its success.

Words by Terrell Manasco | Images by Ryan McGill

It’s 9:30 a.m. at the dealership on Highway 78, and a handful of customers are ambling among the rows of Impalas, Chevelles, Vegas, and Camaros. Inside the building, wisps of bluish cigarette smoke hang in the air as polyester-clad salesmen in loud ties wide as the Warrior River puff on Winstons and sip coffee from Styrofoam cups. An older gentleman stands near a window, hands in the pockets of his gray suit, smiling as a twentyish salesman shows an eager couple a new 1973 Chevy Nova. By lunchtime, Carl Cannon will smile again as his son, Jim, writes up his first sale.

Such was life at Carl Cannon Chevrolet in the early 1970s, where the golden rule of success—Treat your customers as you’d like to be treated—might has well have been stamped on folks’ foreheads.

After all, the founder of Carl Cannon Chevrolet Buick GMC in Jasper wasn’t just giving lip service. The principle has now been the bedrock of the business for almost 60 years. It was even incorporated into one marketing slogan, “Putting You First Keeps Us First” and Jim Cannon says that philosophy is why the business still thrives today.

Born in 1949, Jim graduated from Walker High School in 1967 and attended Jacksonville State University. After college, he came to work for his father at the age of 24. By then, the dealership had relocated from its Viking Drive location across from T.R. Simmons School, where it first opened in 1964, to Highway 78. When Jim took over as dealer/operator in 1986, he vowed the business would continue the “Carl Cannon Golden Rule.”

“My father taught me very well,” Jim says. “The philosophy is a very simple one: if you take care of your employees and your customers as if they were guests in your home, you'll always be successful. We've used that ever since and ingrained it into every individual here, and it's worked.”

That tenet, Jim says, has had a twofold effect. First, it has enabled the business to achieve financial success. Second, it has created a productive work environment in which employees feel valued and appreciated by their superiors.

“We've got probably one of the most stable workforces of any automobile dealership that I'm aware of,” Jim says. “Many of our salesmen and technicians, parts department, and office personnel, have been here many years. We try to select the best employees when we hire and train them to do it our way, and then we treat them right.”

The goal for excellence doesn’t end there. Jim says tremendous time and effort has gone into ensuring the service department is also first-rate. “We've worked very hard over many years to cultivate the service and parts department into one of the finest in the Southeast,” he says.

Recognizing the community’s role in their success, Carl Cannon Chevrolet Buick GMC has always endeavored to give back, sponsoring numerous other local events and supporting nonprofit organizations like the Walker Area Community Foundation. They have also been a Premier Sponsor of the Foothills Festival for several years.

“We've always been a player in helping the community and giving back in every way that we can,” Jim says.

In addition to the Jasper location, Jim is also a silent partner with Carl Cannon’s former business manager, Carl Hogan, at several dealerships in Columbus, Mississippi and is also a silent partner in another larger dealership in Tuscaloosa.

Away from the office, Jim lives a quiet but enriching life. In the past, he enjoyed the game of golf, but a couple of back surgeries have curtailed that hobby. He loves to travel and has visited Italy, Austria, the Caribbean, Mexico, and other countries. He doesn’t venture out of the United States as much now but sometimes visits Las Vegas and other resort areas. He sold his home in Naples, Florida, (“I had an offer I couldn't refuse”) and says he’s now scouting for one on Marco Island, Florida.

“I love southern Florida in the wintertime,” Jim says. “We may travel down this winter and rent a place. The cold (here) doesn’t mix well with arthritis.”

Of all the places he’s visited, Jim says there’s one he’d return to in a heartbeat: Paris, France. “It is the most architecturally beautiful city I've ever seen in my life. Just magnificent,” he says.

“When you build a bridge in Paris, you build it as a work of art.”

Although Jim was impressed with the Eiffel Tower, he admits the Louvre left him awestruck. “You could literally spend weeks in the Louvre. It is humongous,” he says.

Jim retired in 2020 but still comes by the dealership—now located on I-22—to visit with customers and employees. He says he has no qualms about passing the torch. “Curt Ballard runs this more than I do and does a darn good job,” Jim says. “We're very fortunate to have Curt and all the employees that have been so good for us.”

He adds that he is grateful to the people of Walker County for making Carl Cannon Chevrolet Buick GMC a successful business.

Over half a century after the business first opened, Carl Cannon’s golden rule is still intact. 78