Woodhouse brings new auto family, facade to Sixth Street site

"I watched Canyon Kid growing up," said owner Lance Pittack, referring to the late Jim Henry's television persona. "Our TV stations were Sioux City stations. I know this town like I do my hometown."

After 45 years, the Zook family exited the automotive business, following the sale of Charlie Zook Motors, at 2201 E. Sixth St., to Woodhouse.

Woodhouse took over the Sioux City operation in January 2013.

A renovation of the Sixth Street building followed with an updated façade displaying the Woodhouse name.

Woodhouse, one of the region's largest new car dealers, has two locations in Blair, Neb., three in Omaha, two in Sioux City and one in Missouri Valley, Iowa, Bellevue, Neb. and Plattsmouth, Neb.

Brands include Ford, Lincoln, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Chevy, Buick, Mazda, Porsche, Nissan, Hyundai and Mitsubishi.

Though Woodhouse has grown over the years, it continues to retain the flavor of a small-town dealership, Bruce Zook said at the time of the sale.

"The way they do things, they're very much concerned about employee and customer satisfaction," Zook said. "That was very important to us, so it seemed like a very good fit."

Woodhouse, as its full name suggests, has a storied family history. In 1975, Bob and Louise Woodhouse and Dave Taylor pooled their resources to buy Sapp Bros. Ford Center in Blair. Taylor was bought out two years later.

The Woodhouse family worked to build the business, and in 1995, Lance and Becky Pittack with their children, Jason and Kara, came on board as partners.

Lance Pittack grew up in the automobile industry. He started his first job in 1963, washing cars at his dad's dealership in Plainview, Neb.

Pursuing his love of cars, he took his first sales position at Dean Ford in Lincoln, Neb., after graduating from college. Three years later, in 1976, he became the sales manager at a Ford dealership in Fremont, Neb., where he worked for more than 20 years before joining Woodhouse.

In 2004, the Pittack family acquired the organization from Bob Woodhouse and continued to expand the business – adding Woodhouse Porsche in Omaha, Woodhouse Chevrolet-Buick-Pontiac in Missouri Valley, Woodhouse Ford in Plattsmouth and, most recently, the Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Hyundai-Mitsubishi dealerships in Sioux City, formerly owned by the Zook family.

Charlie Zook started his business as a Dodge-only franchise in 1967 with nine employees at 517 Pearl St. Two years later, the dealership moved to 2201 E. Sixth St., becoming the first to build on what became known as the "Sixth Street Auto Row."

Zook acquired the local Chrysler and Plymouth franchises in 1982 before adding Jeep, Mitsubishi and Hyundai lines in recent years.

Bruce Zook, who started working at the dealership full time in 1983 after graduating from Morningside College, took over day-to-day management in the mid-1990s.

As the business changed hands, Pittack said he anticipated being on site in Sioux City as often as time allows.

"Woodhouse is a good fit for this community," he said. "We're all about having a hometown feeling, and Sioux City is all about that."