Lincoln & Mazda of Olympia owners Joe Candiotta and K.C. Platzer opened their Olympia Auto Mall dealership in 1991 after a long combined history of working in the auto industry.
Lincoln & Mazda of Olympia is Thurston County’s only Lincoln and Mazda dealer, offering the full line of new fuel-efficient Lincoln vehicles, as well as the complete line of Mazda cars, trucks, and SUVs.
When he was a boy, Joe Candiotti’s mother worked for government agencies, so his family moved through the area until he was 10. They came back when he was in 7th grade and he lived here through high school.
“I came back up in 1979 after going down to school in California, and went to work at a Ford dealer in Sumner (which is no longer there),” says Joe.
In 1980, he moved to Korum Ford in Puyallup where, a few years later, he met K.C., who was born and raised in Tacoma.
“We worked together in various capacities until 1990, when I left,” Joe explains.
K.C. heard about a Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Olympia’s Auto Mall that was for sale. The two teamed up to buy it and never looked back.
“We love the Ford franchise. That was all either of us ever sold,” says Joe. “And because we’re both local people, we wanted to maintain our roots in the community.”
When both of them were hired at Korum, Puyallup was a much smaller town than it is today. Over the years it grew exponentially and the dealership became a very large business – bigger than Joe and K.C. were interested in working for.
“The Korum family did a fine job of trying to keep a family atmosphere, but it was a large business,” Joe says. “When I left, they were probably selling 600 cars a month. This got us kind of back to the size we wanted to be.”
Joe and K.C. worked hard to establish their dealership. “We were the lone sales team for six months,” Joe says, remembering those early years. “We just wanted to do it ourselves and watch what was going on.”
The duo hired a finance manager, and three years later began adding more staff.
“Right now we’re running with 27 employees,” says Joe. “It’s small in the car world, but we’re considered mid-sized.” And it’s right where he wants it to be.
That’s not to say the dealership hasn’t seen big changes in its 22 years.
Even as far back as 1999, there was some question about the viability of Mercury.
“Ford owned a controlling interest in Mazda, so in 2000, because of a juggling of other dealers in the Auto Mall, Mazda became available,” says Joe. They snapped it up.
“A lot of the car platforms were jointly built,” Joe says. “There were a lot of synergies that made sense to add Mazda to our franchise.”
As cars like the Mystique were being pulled from the Mercury line, Joe and K.C. needed a small, compact, fuel-economy product to supplement that – a niche Mazda filled very well.
Two years ago, the manufacturer dropped Mercury as a franchise, and Joe and K.C.’s dealership became Lincoln & Mazda of Olympia.
“Right now we’re in a great spot because our products are both increasing their presence and volume in the marketplace,” says Joe.
With Lincoln, the dealership is on the cusp of exciting new products, cars with very fuel-efficient, high horsepower V6 engines, while Mazda has what they call their “DNA of zoom-zoom” – making a car fun.
And this past February, Mazda came out with its SkyActiv technology, producing cars engines with increased horsepower and even better fuel efficiency.
Joe and K.C. are committed to offering their customers friendly customer service and a fair deal – and they both actively work with their team to make that happen.
“K.C. and I come to work every day and our door is always open,” says Joe. “There aren’t a lot of layers between ourselves and the rest of the dealership.”
Even after 33 years in the automobile business, Joe still looks forward to coming to work.
“I love it,” he says. “Because just when you think you’ve figured it all out, something new comes along.”
He began his career at the height of a huge recession in the late 1970s. He opened this dealership in the middle of the first Gulf War. The Internet came along and changed everything. And then the auto industry went through an upheaval unlike anything it had ever experienced.
And still Joe, K.C., and Lincoln & Mazda of Olympia have continued successfully on.
“Every day, it’s still unique and you still have to figure out a way to do business and compete and be successful,” says Joe. “But underlying it all, people are still the same. Our customers still want the same things.”
Lincoln & Mazda of Olympia Dealers
2201 Carriage Street SW
Olympia WA 98502
360.786.1000
